Siniy
by vaindaisy
Summary: The Avengers are an elite squad that Cora doesn't consider herself part of, but Fury keeps throwing her into battle. With no superpowers, Cora Gonzalez is fellow agent who is trying to keep the world safe as she tries her best to stare at Cap's blue eyes. But along came Pietro. Slight AU. Pietro/OC. Slight Steve/OC. Contains Spanglish.
1. corazon

_cora_

* * *

"You're joking, right?"

"Jem, do I _look_ like I would joke about that?"

"Well no," Jemma bit her lip in thought, "but Venezuela?"

"Venezuela is a completely different," Cora replied, a shiver running down her spine. She finally looked up from the microscope and eyed the biochemist.

The lab was empty other than the couple. She wrapped a mission a few hours ago, and while mission's team had gone down to the bar, Cora took the advantage to visit her best friend.

"I meant it when the thing's blood was orange, and it regenerated its arm in seconds," the brunette said, snapping her fingers for emphasis while stepping away. Jemma's blood sample had the same orange tint, and Cora momentarily wondered if it was for the same thing.

Jemma opened her mouth to refute the claim but closed it when Fitz walked in. The biochemist gave Cora the ' _be nice_ ' look. The spy rolled her eyes and landed on the Scottish man with the bag of food. "Venezuela?" He guessed, glancing between the two.

Cora groaned, flopping on the high chair near her. Fitz smirked at his correct assumptions and dropped off Jemma's bag of food a safe distance from the sample.

"Thanks for the food," sarcastically muttered, crossing her arms as she leaned against the table. The brunette wasn't fond of Fitz, but she mostly kept mum for the sake of her best friend.

"I was hoping you'd take the hint and leave," Fitz responded with an over-the-top smile, earning him a slap in the arm from Jemma.

"But really Cora, maybe you should go home and rest," Jemma suggested, the worried look crossing her pretty features. "When's the last time you've been at your place? A week, tops?"

Cora shrugged her arms casually but knew it'd been a couple of weeks since she'd been at her SHEILD-provided apartment. Before her mission, she had been staying at Jemma's place. Jem squinted her eyes in a slight glare when the other woman didn't respond.

"I don't know, a few of weeks?" she offhandedly replied, avoiding eye contact.

Cora could feel Jemma's dark glare, and with a sigh, she stood up from the stool. Fuck, she wanted to punch Fitz for bringing up.

"Have you been having that dream again?" Jemma whispered when Fitz occupied himself in another corner of the lab. _Yes_ , was the answer she would have given if Fitz not been there. She shook her head, but the look Jemma gave told her she had been found out.

Instead of listening to another lengthy lecture from Jemma about how much she had been overworking herself, Cora gave her quick goodbye and a peck on the cheek.

"We're going to talk about this later!" Jemma yelled at her.

She didn't respond, and Cora began to list the places she could go instead of the apartment. It felt empty there. It wasn't home. It wasn't Chicago. A home was where you could hear the corridos from the neighbor down the street, while her mother fussed about how loud the music was. Although she only complained when the neighbors hadn't invited her.

Cora sighed, trying to focus on something else. Besides, every time she opted to leave HQ, she would be asked to return for a mission. After the Battle of New York, she had suggested to Fury to move HQ to Chicago. His sole eye stared at her for a minute straight, before walking out without another word.

The Latina remembered the battle as it was yesterday. She had been assigned to help Captain America on the ground, battling the weird aliens Loki had summoned. She made sure civilians were evacuated and transported to safety, all while trying to take down chitauri.

Despite being part of the battle, Cora considered herself part of the Avengers initiative. She always worked with many teams thought her career with SHIELD; additionally, she didn't have any superpowers and wasn't as skilled as Romanoff or Barton. But Fury had thrown her in there last minute. To this day Cora swears Fury made a mistake and was too chicken-shit to admit it.

She had been in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin when Hill had picked her up to take her to New York. While she was being briefed and collecting the weapons she needed, she had met Jemma Simmons for the first time.

 _Agent Gonzalez, report to main deck. Agent Gonzalez, main deck._

"Called it," she muttered, sprinting towards the main deck. At least she didn't have to return to the apartment.

* * *

Core leaned against the cold elevator wall of the Avengers' Tower. It had taken her a couple of hours to find a suitable dress for the occasion, never needing a reason to use one. She shifted her weight between her right and left leg as she waited, feeling the shoes dig into her heels. She could deal with tight leather bodysuits, but dresses had never been her forte.

She had found the flattering lace blue dress in the back of her closet, and was pleasantly surprised it still fit. Plus, it made her bust look bigger than it actually was. Tapping her foot against the floor impatiently, Cora calculated she could stay about an hour. The spy would have opted to not join, but Tony had _oh-so-graciously_ called to remind her.

SHIELD had gathered intel on a growing group of HYDRA agents in a Ukrainian town bordering Russia. Cora would be traveling with Coulson's team and even if she was not fond of Jemma being part of field missions, she'd have to suck it up.

" _Mi Corazon_!" Tony Stark yelled in her native tongue from across the room. Cora visibly cringed at unwanted attention and the use of her full name. She wasn't fond of it.

Plainly ignoring Tony's audacious greeting, she went straight to the open bar. Ordering a cherry-vodka sour, Cora took a seat. Not far to her right, her mentor was playing bartender and made a mental note to not go anywhere near the Russian. Nat as famous for being heavy handed with alcohol. Cora still waved in acknowledgment towards her and Dr. Banner before those two returned to their conversation.

The Latina viewed them from her peripheral vision as she received her drink. Whatever that was… she was not on board. Cora didn't like the looks they were giving each other.

" _Mi Corazon me duele_!" Stark grinned as he slid next to Cora, and ordered another whiskey.

"That's never been cute," Cora replied with a glare, drinking from her glass. "And I've been telling you that since the very beginning."

She couldn't deny that Tony could be funny, but she hated her full name. Plus, she felt that the accent he used was mocking her a little. The spy had a feeling Tony knew all of this but would continue when he felt like it.

"Glad you could make it," he said, ignoring her words as he drank from his new glass of whiskey. "Although I did have to convince you, I'm sure you're only here to see your one true love. The tower's OTP.

"I saw him having a drink with Thor over there," Tony smirked, pointing over to Steve and the unmissable Nordic God stood.

"What in the world is OTP?"

"OTP, one true pairing, its slang from the internet. Keep up," Tony broadly grinned. She resented Stark's ability to sniff out information with a glance. A few years back, he asked her point blank if she would like to 'do the dirty' with Steve Rogers. Cora had balked, stuttering a 'no' with fiery red cheeks as she walked away.

Thankfully, Steve had not been present for that… but Clint, Sam and Tony's teasing had been endless. Especially when Steve was around. Sometimes she wondered if Steve could be that daft or he never mentioned anything because of his kind nature. Natasha had never been on board with Cora's crush.

"Whoa, wait, I'm not _in love_ with him," Cora finally reacted, her cheeks heating up. She was just endlessly attracted to him. It had nothing to do with love.

Tony placed an around Cora's shoulders and unwilling guided them over to the superpowers that conversed with veterans. She brushed off Tony's arm from her when they arrived, smiling kindly at the vets as she waved.

"Lady Corazon!" Thor's voice thundered jovially with a grin, engulfing the shorter woman in a hug. Her feet were no longer on the floor, and Cora did not appreciate that he made her feel tiny and dainty.

"Hey Thor," she finally greeted when he placed her down. "We talked about this buddy, it's Cora, none of this Lady Corazon business." Either Thor had not grasped the concept of nicknames, or he plainly didn't listen to her. Sometimes she just let it slide when he used her full name. The God of Thunder apologized, though his attention span took him back to the veterans. Tony disappeared.

Steve turned to Cora, a friendly smile on his face. The brunette felt a blush creeping up her neck, and by god, did the room get hotter?

"You look beautiful Cora," Steve complimented, and Cora swore she could melt into a puddle.

 _This is how I die_ , she thought to herself. Regrouping herself, she returned his smile and thanked him. At least he had been convinced to use her nickname.

"I'm glad you made it," he said, oblivious to her current inner turmoil. "Nat mentioned you weren't sure if you would be coming, you're leaving for a mission, right?"

Corazon nodded, managing to formulate some words without sounding idiotic. "Yes! Tonight!" her voice squeaked in excitement, and the burette quickly cleared her throat.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked with furrowed eyebrows, placing a hand on her bare arm.

 _Oh god, I'm going to throw up_ , she said but scolded herself minutes later for sounding like a fangirl. This was her co-worker for Christ's sake. Cora could only nod, responded with a yes before his hand left her arm. The disappointment crept in the back of her head. God, why couldn't she function around Steve Rogers like an actual human being?

"You haven't stopped by the tower in a while, how have you been?"

"Good, working mostly," Cora's managed a reply, surprised that Steve noticed her lack of appearances around the tower. The teasing, despite being claimed as "good-natured" was the reason she hadn't stopped by. She couldn't tell him that, obviously.

"Captain, is this your lady?" One of the veterans asked, a smirk on his face as he pointed between the two. Cora shook her head and was now sure her blush now covered her face while Steve responded for both of them.

"Ah, no," Steve said, an embarrassed smile on his lips. "No, she's a friend. I'm sure you've heard of her, she was in the Battle of New York with us. She's a brave one, helped save hundreds of lives."

Cora began to protest while their mouths were open in surprise. "You're a tiny little thing though, thank you for saving our country."

She started off by feeling offended assuming his sentence was going to end in a derogatory way. A bright smile sneaked onto her face, and she thanked him. It wasn't every day she was given credit for her job, so little things like these made her day. She hadn't been shoved into the limelight like Banner, Thor, Steve or Tony.

"I'll be out of your hair, have a nice evening fellas," she stepped away from the men who reminisced about wars. She was no hero; this was just a job she enjoyed. Steve tried to convince her to stay for a bit longer, but Cora could only shake her head. She could only make more a mess of herself.

Spotting Maria and Clint talking by the windows, and Cora made her way towards them. Her cheeks were finally cooling down.

"Hey Heart," Clint greeted, hugging her in a warm welcome. He enjoyed using the translation of her name.

"How's the private sector?" Cora teased Maria after greeting each other, "Better yet, how's working for Stark?"

"I don't know _Corazon_ ," Maria mimicked with a smirk, watching the other woman frown visibly at the following words, "Have you told Steve of your undying love for him?"

Cora glared and crossed her arms, "Okay, that's not as funny."

Maria Hill wasn't much older than her. Both had been selected by and for SHIELD at the around the time and had entered boot camp together.

Maria had just finished her last tour with the United States forces, and Cora was a recent graduate who had been pulled aside during a martial arts tournament. From the very beginning, both women had seen each other as friendly rivals. When they trained and Maria won, Cora would spend nights at the gym. If Cora won, Maria would train harder. At one point, Cora had applied for Maria's position in SHIELD, which ultimately, went to Maria.

For the rest of the night, the three caught up. Clint spoke about his time during the tower, asked the obvious question as to why Cora hadn't been stopping by more often. The agent gave her usual excuse of work. Maria talked about how she missed being on the field, but being the private sector had its perks too.

Cora couldn't see herself doing that, so she had to applaud Maria's strength. She just knew that if she had been working for Stark, she'd be trying to trash his suits.

Her phone vibrated. Her time was up.

* * *

 _hi there! wow, wow, wow, wow. honestly, i've been trying to write this story for almost a year now (since may of 2015). god god lemon, things have changed. i'm very late into entering the pietro/oc bandwagon but i've only managed to grasp my oc properly until a few weeks ago. i'm 100000% okay with that. feel free to follow the pinterest/tumblr for all my fanfics the user being (unsurprisingly) vaindaisy. thanks. 3_

 _disclaimer: anything you recognize belongs to their rightful owners._

 _edit 2: i know... i know..._


	2. ukraine

Blood mixed with seat dripped down her forehead, the boost of adrenaline fueling her to finish the mission. Coulson's Team and Corazon had been in Ukraine for the past couple of days. They had scoped out the city of Lugansk, digging up more information about the Hydra group.

She had her Glock 26, ready to shoot. Their collected intel from SHIELD and Skye's Rising Tide group had led them to an abandoned warehouse outside the city limits. Cora had barely managed to dodge a kick to her face, but a punch had split her lip open. Though she was much more worried about the wound above her right eyebrow, and fuck, was it going to leave a scar?

The hallways were silent as she crept through them, and Cora tried to regulate her breathing as much as she could.

"I don't see anybody, are there any heat signals?"

' _No_ ,' Daisy's tense voice rang through her earpiece. Cora lowered her gun slightly, following the agent's instructions. ' _Left. Right. Right again, the young woman instructed. Eight steps and there will be a door on your left._ There's _two people in there. Just give me a few, these Russian people have great firewalls, but it shouldn't take me long…_ '

' _Hacking into their mainframe… give me ten more seconds_ ,' Daisy said. ' _Five, four, three, two and now it is open_.'

The audible clunk told her Daisy had succeeded, but Cora didn't make a move at first. Her demeanor went unchanged at the sound of bullets ricocheting against the large metal door.

Then, the bullets stopped.

Cora took this as a queue that they were reloading and seized the moment to go in. Just like Daisy had said, two people stood in the empty room. A man and a woman fumbled as they attempted to reload a gun, their lab coats indicating they were scientists.

The spy aimed for each of their shins quickly, a small smirk on her lips as they fell on the floor. Cora kicked the weapons away from them, commanding Daisy to call Melinda and Coulson for backup.

The male screamed in agony, and the woman started cursing her in Russian. Cora kicked the man swiftly, removed his belt, tied his hands behind his back and faced him down.

"Oops, I guess I knocked you out," she mumbled, ignoring the woman.

Calling for help to pick the two, Cora knocked out the male by kicking him swiftly in the head. Removing the belt from his waist, she turned him face down and tied his wrists together. The woman cursed at her in Russian while she held her knee, tears rolling down her eyes in agony.

" _Zatknis_ ," Cora snapped, crouching to slap the woman. The Russian woman glared. The brunette was sent on finding the files, but she had to tie the bitch up first.

" _You will never find them_ ," she said in Russian while she was being tied up. The woman laughed at her words, irritating the agent.

Her first instinct was to look through the cabinets. Her fingers skimmed through he empty manila folders in frustration, slamming it angrily as she went to the next section. Nothing. The cackling from the Russian only deepened her annoyance, and for a split second, she wondered if SHIELD had sent her on a pointless mission.

They wouldn't send her on a pointless mission… right?

The sound of paper crinkling behind her turned her into the redhead's direction, pupils widening at the realization of what was done. Sparing no time, Cora turned the woman over and raised her blouse.

"Why the fuck aren't you wearing a bra?" she muttered to herself, finding the manila folder underneath the crinkled and dirty white blouse. It was tied against the Russian's torso and she was overjoyed she hadn't shot the woman in the chest. The files would have been drenched in blood.

" _Bol'shoye spasibo,_ " a smug smirk on her lips and taking the files.

" _Sooka_ ," the woman sneered in Russian, spitting in Cora's face.

Seething, she wiped with her forearm while standing. There was a strong contemplation of whether or not she would untie her; it wouldn't be a fair fight if one of them were tied up. Instead, she opted for kick her. A strong kick made contact with the woman's torso and then head, knocking her out. Call her all the names in the book, but never spit in her face.

" _Puta_."

A single desk and chair in the middle of the room, and when she sat, she swung her feet up onto the desk. She heard Coulson's voice through the earpiece, letting her know that they were just around the corner. Cora's eyebrows furrowed as she skimmed through the file. They were mostly blank pages, a couple of numbers here and there scattered throughout it, but nothing usable. She sat up and placed the file on the table and tried to piece it together. Was it a cipher?

"Really?" Coulson said exasperatedly when he reached the room, "On their knees again?"

"The files are useless."

Anger emanated from her voice as she stood from her seat and looked at the agents.

"Nothing's ever useless," Melinda responded, taking the files from the table. Two agents carried each body, dragging them towards the plane and into the interrogation room. Coulson and Melinda took the male, while Daisy and Cora took the other. Once all Hydra agents were in their designated rooms, Cora left so Melinda could do her job. The agent, sometimes wishing she could have the traits, admired Melinda's strength and poised attitude. Maybe if she convinced Jemma, the scientist could go and create some kind of osmosis pill.

Looking herself in the bathroom mirror, she frowned at the grimy face that reflected. A few rough blows, but nothing major. The gash above her eyebrow was a lot deeper than she originally thought, and the cut on her lip wasn't that bad. It would hinder her availability to facetime with her family, that she was sure of.

Sighing, Cora began by washing the sweat and blood from her face, but before she could continue anything else, a loud knock was heard. Sliding the door open, Jemma held up a first aid kit with a smile on her face.

"Need any help?"

* * *

Jemma distracted her with meaningless conversation as she finished dabbing the stitches with hydrogen peroxide. While their conversation on which Real Housewives series was better, Fitz had to come in and spoil a book Cora had been reading.

Quickly ushering Fitz out, Jemma reminding Cora that the moment they returned to DC she would be "going straight home for a good ten hours of sleep." That was a ridiculous idea, knowing she wouldn't actually listen.

Cora sat back, turning the lights off as she let the adrenaline turn into drowsiness. The lack of sleep had gotten to her, and Cora decided against taking a nap. She stood and made her way to the cockpit.

By now, Cora wasn't sure if she was mad about the lack of information. It was somewhere between the lines of 'there was nothing in the files' and 'I couldn't figure this out.' She knew it was best not to be angry, and maybe she could take out her frustration on Maria in a friendly fight. That would probably take out some frustrations out.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat, Coulson wasn't fazed at the entrance.

"How's the family?" he spoke first, filling in the silence. Twisting her back so it could crack and she gave a slight shrug.

"Good, I suppose," was her response. "Estrella turned four last week, and I can't believe I missed another birthday. She called me crying because I wasn't there."

Cora was close to her family, especially her niece. Estrella was like the sun of her sky, bringing up her day after a terrible day at work. Hiding her real occupation for their own safety made her feel guilty on a constant basis. They were all under the assumption her job was working as a Legislative Director for senator. It was an obvious lie, but with her major being political science, her family didn't question it. Letting the conversation fade, both knew that missing big family celebrations came with the job.

Coulson didn't respond, letting the conversation fade, as both very well knew that this type of work came with large sacrifices. Then something rang, alerting the young woman since she had never heard it before.

"Is that a phone?" Cora's eyes grew at the ringing round, looking at Coulson. He smirked, pressing a green button that brought up Fury's face on the holographic screen. Her eyes bulged out. Fury was supposed to be dead.

"What the fuck." Her voice strained, surprised to see the former SHIELD director. The man with one eye, Director Fury, was annoyed at the reaction. Coulson looked like this was nothing new. She had a plethora of questions for Fury, but before she had the chance to even ask one, he spoke.

"Eloquent as ever Gonzalez," the sarcastic tone laced with his words halted any attempt of words.

"I need you to land on the following coordinates: 48.045556 North, 20.4727376 East," Fury instructed, and Coulson followed orders. While in the back of her mind she still considered Fury the Director… nobody really had to listen to him. Right?

"Gonzalez, grab your weapons," he said, giving her the stink eye. She was about to protest, just wanting to be back in DC for a good sleep. "The Avengers need you." The transmission went out.

"Do they really?" Cora questioned out loud, Coulson letting her know to hurry up. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, trying to recover from the sudden appearance of Fury. She took in a deep breath and looked at the pilot. "Don't land, I'll jump," she said, hands gripping the edge of the door. "Did you know h was-?" She couldn't finish the question but Coulson didn't answer. "We're going to have a long talk about this later Philip."

He only smirked and said they'd be arriving in thirty minutes, steering the jet's wheel towards the new coordinates. She wasn't sure why the Avengers would need her, or even as to why; nevertheless, Cora made her way towards the lab. If she was being requested then she really wasn't in any position to reject. She had to focus.

Daisy, Fitz, and Jemma were all chatting when Cora walked in. Daisy's greeting died halfway when she noticed the spirit Cora was in.

"Jemma, I need you to get these following items," she instructed the moment she walked in. "I'll need my naginata, my usual knife and get a parachute ready for me.

"Fitz, get me some of those electrostatic bolts, maybe shock yourself once or twice, I don't care, and two Glock 26s with extra ammunition."

Even in this tense moment, she couldn't help but hope Fitz hurt himself just slightly. Maybe She'd even spoil the Game Of Thrones books.

She was ready to turn on her heel to go change but looked over at Daisy.

"Look for anything that's going on around the world relating to the Avengers," the agent said. "Hack into systems, security cams, flip through the channels, I don't care, make it happen."

It's not that she didn't trust Daisy, but Cora needed someone to let her know what was going on.

Glad for the extra catsuit on the plane, and she stripped off her old one and put on the clean one. It almost made her feel better, the other one felt gross from the sweat and visible blood stains that weren't hers. She didn't bother saying her farewells to Melinda, not wanting to disturb the interrogation.

Back in the lab, Fitz was the first to hand her the guns. She placed one securely on her right thigh holster while the other one went on her waist. Her knife went on the other holster that was also on her left thigh. Fitz then helped her put on the bolts onto her wrist, and she attached the extra ammunition to her utility belt.

Jemma helped slide on the parachute backpack, a worried smile on her lips. Turning to the table, the biochemist handed her a naginata. It wasn't her usual one, confused as her eyebrows knitted together.

It was a beautiful design. It had some traditional naginata attributes. The pole was made out of metal, it's handle reinforced with fiberglass and nylon, and a small black button near the center, where she usually held it. The blade at the very end caught her attention. It was about 24-inches of stainless steel. A quarter-sized hole was near the base of the blade, and a bright blue light illuminated from it. It glowed, but it didn't overshadow the rest of the weapon.

 _Is that…?_ For a second, she strongly considered if this was the scepter.

"We were going to let you test it out once we arrived in DC," Jemma handed it over, almost unwillingly. "Fitz and I started modifying it a couple weeks ago as part of your birthday present, and it's got some tesseract energy.

"We're not sure how much power it has, but I want you to be careful Corazon." She wanted to groan, knowing that Jemma meant serious business when her full name was in use. Giving her a tight hug, a large smile formed on Cora's lips. Maybe she wouldn't spoil GoT for Fitz since he did technically help.

"You're the best," she said to her best friend, eyes softening in appreciation. Jemma continued by telling her the new features of the improved weapon, a giddy smile on Cora's lips. It was retractable, which intensified her smile.

The moment her lesson ended, she went back into action mode and turned to face Daisy.

"What do you know?" She arched her eyebrow while looking at the hacker.

"They're at Novi Grad, Sokovia," Daisy began as the screen flickered through videos and photos. "Apparently the Avengers are there, and there's some kind of fight going on with a robot and a man with red skin. Not too much is being found honestly, but they've been circulating and it's not the first time since…"

Daisy went on, and by this time Cora was only half listening as her eyes were trained on the monitor and studying the situation. It was difficult when footage was scarce at this point. Photos showed some massive robot, a dude she'd never see before flying with a cape. Some of the footage was problematic since they came from newsfeeds, and they switched from video to anchor a lot.

Coulson announced over the speakers that they were approaching drop off, and Cora made her way to the exit, thanking Fitz and Daisy. Jemma followed close behind the agent. Cora was close to turning to her friend and letting her know to not follow. But with Jemma's hands twitching slightly, Cora sighed silently and let it go. This time around, she was visibly worried.

"I know I said this earlier but be careful," Jemma's voice mixed with worry. "Not just with the weapon, but with all of it, with..."

Whatever I'm doing, Cora finished for her mentally. The Latina fingers tightened on the weapon and gave Jemma a reassuring smile.

* * *

Landing safely, Cora discarded the parachute. She waited two agonizingly long minutes before she finally heard the sound of a helicopter coming from the south. Twirling the naginata between her hands to get used to its new weight, she waited for the helicopter to land. When it arrived, Maria Hill slid the door open as Cora ran towards the helicopter.

"Suprised you're here," Cora said the moment she put on the headset and sat in the copilot seat. Hill handed her a tablet with an annoyed look, and each woman strapped themselves. The ex-deputy director began taking the helicopter in a new direction, beginning to explain the situation. She told Cora about South America, Korea, and the new additions.

"Ultron was a Stark and Banner creation," the woman said, her attention on the sky in front of them.

"For a couple of smart guys, they're a bunch of pendejos," Cora said, more to herself, earning a smirk from Hill. The story continued on about how Ultron had accessed leaked files from SHIELD, and currently held Romanoff hostage. Cora's shoulders tensed and glanced at Hill to make sure she wasn't lying. She wasn't. Well shit.

"What about the brunette and the blond kid?" Cora questioned, pinching the tablet's screen to zoom into the pixilated photo. She hadn't seen them on the news.

"They're former Hydra," Hill responded. "Wanda and Pietro, they're on our side now. They've come to the realization that what they've done is wrong." The Latina wasn't able to distinguish them in the photos, but she had an idea as to what they could look like.

She was a bit apprehensive about their sudden "realization" but she didn't have time to question it. Reading over their files quickly, she learned their names, abilities, stats. They were twins who were left orphaned at ten. A difficult age to lose any parent, let alone two.

"What about the other guy," Cora asked when her fingers swiped left and a man with deep red skin, green and red spandex, and a cape showed up.

"Vision, good guy," Hill stated, agitation clear in her voice. "Another Stark and Banner creation. It has Jarvis's voice so don't freak out, it's too complicated to explain."

After what felt an eternity of silence while Cora flipped through the photos, Hill spoke once more.

"The objective is to eliminate Ultron at all costs."

Cora nodded, less than impressed with both Stark and Banner. Sighing, she continued looking through the photos and the information that was available to her. She felt the weight of her retractable naginata on her lap, and she hoped that it wouldn't hinder her fights since it was a couple pounds heavier than usual.

In close proximity to the floating city, she took off the headset and placed the earpiece Hill had handed her.

"Gonzalez is in," Hill announced, and seconds later, Cora heard Tony's voice in her right ear.

 _Corazon! Glad you could join the fiesta!_

"Not the time Tony, you're in some deep shit."

"Barton, she'll be dropped off by you," Hill said.

The helicopter landed at the edge of the city, only a few meters from the actual city. Cora opened the door and stepped out, rolled her neck and took a deep breath as she enjoyed the moment of not working for just a second. She faced Hill.

"You know what to do if I die."

Hill nodded, her lips tightened into a line.

In the far distance, Cora could see Clint and Wanda. She was sure it was Wanda, as red sparks were distinguishable from the scenery. Tony was fighting in the air, but no sign of the Hulk. Captain was probably helping civilians. But the one thing that stood out amongst it all was the plethora of robots that were in the city.

Cora thought that beheading the bastards should be enough, right?

"I'll be back soon, picking up some old friends," Cora heard Hill shout before closing the door. She moved at a safe distance from the helicopter, and it flew off.

With a deep breath, she hoped to God she wouldn't die and sprinted into the city.


	3. sokovia

Getting to Barton seemed easy. Cora's trek into Novi Grad was fine until a robot took notice of her. For a split second, she wondered if they were all connected. If one saw her, did all of them see her?

The answer was yes.

Cora's heart raced as robots rushed toward her, but she instinctively swung the naginata's blade through their four necks. With a roundhouse kick, she dislocated the fifth head from its body.

She continued this attic until she managed to spot Barton a few yards away. Alternating between jogging and fighting, Cora counted she had taken out about ten. A large feat considering her chitauri count had been three.

Incoming already came in, she heard Steve say in her earpiece. Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job. Tear these things apart.

You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed… walk it off.

She silently nodded, and before she knew it, the ground started to shake. Her gaze turned to the horizon, and Cora's hazel eyes widened. Buildings crumbled over as the land beneath her feet began to ascend. She managed to let out a "holy shit" before getting herself together.

"Coming in southbound Barton," she said, clicking the earpiece. Cora swung her weapon again, taking out two robots that were inching onto Clint.

Her body was then hurtled against an empty car, her head slamming against the roof of it. Cora cursed, grabbing her weapon to decapitate the robot from the chin up.

She turned to the side mirror and groaned. "Fuck, that's going to need stitches," the brunette spat, watching the blood trickle from down her temple.

"Glad you made it," Barton joked. Cora only nodded in response, as Barton smirked at her "God damnit Stark!" look on her face. Between both of them, they managed to take out about twenty of the robots. Cora had to admit that there was a sense of satisfaction when she heard their heads slicing. As she turned to talk to Barton, Cora's eyes landed on Wanda.

She'd forgotten about the girl for a good few minutes, and a slight ting of worry passed through her until she remembered the brunette had been on Ultron's side a few days ago.

"Heads up!" Clint yelled, a few of their robots flying above. They aimed their weapons on the three, and Cora was quick to rely on her instinct and headed into the empty building. Barton and Wanda weren't far behind.

The building shook, debris falling onto the three once the bomb had detonated. Cora took a deep breath and thanked her lucky stars that the building didn't cave in.

"How- how could I let this happen?" Wanda said hysterically, on her knees as the tears welled up in her eyes. Her hands were shaking, repeating the words over and over again in a labored breath.

"Hey, hey, you okay?" Barton called out over his shoulder, positioning himself with his bow and arrow near a hole in the wall.

"This is all our fault," Wanda trembled, wrapping her hands around herself, rocking herself back and forth.

Barton gave Cora a pleading look to help him out with Wanda, before shooting an arrow like it was nothing. Mentally sighing, she nodded. Crouching next to Wanda, the Latina mustered the best pep talk she could think of.

"Look at me," Cora began quickly, but when Wanda didn't follow orders, she firmly repeated it. "Look at me. So what if it's your fault? Who cares? What really matters is this: are you up for this?"

The Sokovian grew silent, eyes hesitantly meeting the agent in front of her. Cora placed a hand on her Wanda's arm, putting it lightly. "I need to know because there's a city that's fucking flying right now." Cora let out a sigh that she wasn't aware she had been holding. She glanced at Barton for reinforcement, but he was busy taking out robots.

"I know I just got here, but look, we're fighting an army of robots," the agent continued. "Barton has a bow and arrow and I have my weapon," she pointed at her glowing naginata. "But I'm going back out there cause it's my job, okay? I have a family that depends on me and Barton and I can't do our job while we babysit."

Unsettled by Wanda's lack of reaction, Cora bit her lip and stood away from her. "It doesn't matter what you did, or what you are, if you got out there, you fight and you fight to kill."

Barton turned to them, frown lines marring his face, "Stay in here, you're good and I'll send your brother to come find you."

Cora nodded in agreement, "If you step out that door, you're an Avenger and you're helping the world survive another day."

Hawkeye huffed in amusement, loading his bow with multiple arrows as he spoke to himself. "Yep, the city is flying," he grunted, kicking the door open and shooting his arrows.

Not one to be left behind, Cora gripped her weapon and followed after him. The first robot to approach her was on her left, and Cora didn't hesitate to pierce the blade through its head. It felt somewhat satisfying. "To your right!" Cora altering Barton, who shot the target with ease.

As they continued, she heard the chatter in the earpiece, but Cora had found it increasingly hard to keep up with what they were saying. The brunette caught her breathe, leaning against an old car as Hawkeye did the same. Her heart beat fast, and the sense of never-ending fighting was beginning to get overwhelming.

"They just keep comin'" the exasperated phrase came out of her mouth. "Fuck," she sighed. The energy was depilating a lot faster than anticipated, and she momentarily wished there had been a break between her Lughansk mission and this.

"What if we just let them kill us?" Clint joked, stretching as they saw a new wave of robots on the horizon.

"Laura would never forgive me," Cora replied with a smirk on his lips. "Or she might end up thanking me."

Clint laughed as he reading himself into a battle stance and Cora followed.

But then Wanda happened. The Sokovian exited the building with her hands glowing bright red. Cora was entranced, finding the balls of red beautiful, but it didn't last long. Barton shot to arrows, snapping her out of her momentary distraction.

Wanda had finished them the last of them.

"That was... amazing," Cora gaped, giving at Wanda with an appreciative nod. The brunette had hundreds of questions for the Sokovian, but she figured it was not the right place or time for it.

"We're all clear here," Barton announced into the earpiece.

We are very not clear! Cap said over the earpiece.

"All right, coming to you," Barton responded, signaling to follow him.

A sudden rush of air flew by Cora. She turned to find the cause of it, as she tightened her hold on her naginata in case she needed to stab someone.

It only took her moments to realize that it was Wanda's twin. The agent tilted her head a little as she studied him. He was handsome with his silver hair adorning his face with a well-fitted suit that showcased his muscular figure.

But his bright blue eyes caught her attention, and she silently admitted that it was his best feature. Until those same blue eyes linked with her own hazel ones.

"Brother, this is Agent - " Wanda interrupted Cora's wandering mind, and realized they hadn't been properly introduced.

"I'm Agent Corazon Gonzalez, they call me Cora," the Latina extended her hand to shake with Wanda's first. When she turned to do the same with Pietro, she recoiled slightly when she felt a slight shock as the palm of their hands touched.

The simple hand gesture felt like an eternity, and when they let go, Cora found herself in a dazed state. Did he contain other powers other than speed? Her distraction kept her from the Barton-Maximoff banter.

"Keep up old man!"

Pietro ran off with Wanda in his arms.

"Nobody would know, only you and I," Barton said as they both jogged towards the same direction the twins headed. "I'll say, 'the last I saw of him, an Ultron was sitting on him.'"

Gonzalez giggled as Barton continued.

"'Yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard, I miss him already.'"

Natasha's voice rang through the earpiece, and Cora and Clint exchanged a smile.

"Glad to hear you're safe _uchitel_ ," Cora joked which earned an unamused grunt from Natasha.

She and Barton finally caught up with Steve and Natasha, the Maximoff twins nearby. Steve laid out Tony's place once more, but Cora had hope. Maria did say she'd be back soon with help.

But as the city continued its trajectory upwards, that hope began to dwindle.

"There are worse ways to go, where else am I going to get a view like this?" Natasha said absentmindedly as the group fell silent.

"Glad you like the view Romanoff," Fury's voice rang through their earpieces. "It's about to get better."

In the distance, Cora saw the old helicarrier approach the flying city. Her heart soared, a large grin spreading across her face.

"Nice, right?" Fury said, "Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Cora blurted out, eyes wide as she looked at the Steve bemused. It earned her a side eye from Natasha.

"Oh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury responded.

The garage-like doors of the helicarrier began to open as it dispatched multiple bogies into the edge of the city.

"This is SHIELD?" Pietro asked. She hadn't noticed how close he'd gotten to her as he spoke.

"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be," Captain responded, while Pietro looked back at him. For a split second, Cora and the Sokovian's blue eyes locked. But she looked away almost immediately, but it didn't go unnoticed by Natasha.

" _He vremya_ ," Natasha's stern voice ordered.

" _Prasti_?" Cora's eyebrows furrowed, unsure what the hell Natasha meant.

"Let's load them up," Steve commanded. Following orders, Cora made her way towards a group of thirty civilians and safely secured them in a bogie.

She was glad Hill returned, and another smile cracked onto her lips when she heard Rhodey's voice.

As Cora headed back into the city for the third group, she took a child from her wounded mother, and continuously promised her she was safe. When she dropped off the group, she handed the child to her husband sitting next to her.

"Five is good to go," Cora announced, closing the bogie. Steve stood next to her, a hand on her shoulder as they watched itself detach from the city and head towards the helicarrier. Cora looked up at her leader, and for a split second, she felt better about herself when she realized how equally haggard Steve looked.

"Avengers, time to work for a living," Tony said.

Glancing at Steve, Cora took his extended arm and he threw her across his back. Grasping her weapon with one hand, her free arm hooked around his neck as Steve jogged towards the center of the city.

The Latina had never been so thankful for her job. Had she found herself in this situation that wasn't work related, she would have melted into a puddle on the floor.

When they arrived, she jumped off his back and swung her blade to take out two more droids.

"T-thanks Steve," she thanked, cheeks flustered slightly as they made a run towards the contraption in the center of the city.

"Don't mention it," he said offhandedly.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked when she arrived.

"This is the drill: if Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose," Tony pointed at the core at the center.

For the first time, Cora saw Ultron in person. He flew down from the sky, hovering close to where they all stood. She took a step back, finding the thing a little intimidating. A hand grasped her arm. She looked down at the hand, and then up to its owner. It was Pietro. He let go moments after.

"Is that the best you can do?" Thor screamed. Ultron raised his hands, and thousands of robots seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

" _Chinga tu pinche puta madre_ ," Cora muttered to herself in Spanish, emphasizing each word when she saw the hoard of them.

"You had to ask," Cap sarcastically added.

"This is the best I can do," Ultron said smugly. "This is exactly what I wanted, all of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well, like the old man said," Tony said, "Together."

Having no idea who he was referring to, she still agreed with the sentiment. Despite never considering herself to be part of the Avengers, she was going to fight with them, even if it meant death. Besides, there was a good amount of money in her bank account that her family could live off of for the next three years, excluding life insurance.

Hulk screamed, and robots began running towards them. Pointing her weapon to each of them, Cora remembered the button Jemma instructed her to use for emergencies only. This was considered an emergency, right? Pressing the button, Cora's eyes lit up as a beam of blue energy shot through the robots. She didn't see Thor's surprised face when it happened.

"This is fucking awesome," she said to herself, pressing it again as it obliterated robots. Cora centered herself between Barton and Natasha, helping them with getting rid of robots. After all, non-super powered agents had to stick together.

Noticing that Barton had finally run out of arrows, she handed him the extra gun she carried. Above her, Vision and Ultron fought. Captain punched through robots. Tony blasted them. Thor used his hammer. Natasha and Barton shot. The Maximoffs did their thing. Hulk smashed.

Moments later, she noticed Vision, Iron Man and Thor all aim at Ultron. And then, the last thing she expected to happen, happened.

"Lady Corazon!" Thor yelled over his shoulder, "Position yourself underneath Vision!"

Wiping off the blood from her head wounds, she abandoned her current position and made her way beneath Vision. She was confused, but she was far from a position to question the Norse God at the moment.

"Stand your ground, point and shoot!" he directed.

She took a stance, pressed the button and aimed the weapon's blue beam to hit Ultron directly. Scattered thoughts raced through her mind, wondering how in the world Thor would react to Cora possessing the tesseract energy. Ultron began to deteriorate in front of her eyes, and Thor yelled for them to stop.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight –" Hulk's strong uppercut launched Ultron far away. The green giant then screamed at the robots that were left behind.

"They're trying to leave the city," Thor stated, Tony called out for Rhodey.

Thor gave Cora a knowing look seconds later, glancing at her and the weapon.

"I – well, you see," she began to stutter as she gripped the naginata and took a step back. She had just received it, and she didn't want to hand it over to Thor just yet! She wanted to keep it! What if he took it back to Asgard? She couldn't let that happen – Jemma would be devastated!

She glanced towards Natasha pleadingly, who only shrugged. Dejectedly, she handed Thor the modified weapon and crossed her arms with a slight pout. He examined it carefully before he leaned close to her hear. The Latina held her breath, and this time around, she saw Nat looking ready to intervene.

"You did well," Thor whispered, handing the staff back, "You must practice, and you will gain the energy's full trust." Her shoulders dropped in relief, grimacing as she swatted Thor's freakishly large hand away from her head.

The Avengers huddled into a group to hear Captain's orders.

"We gotta move out," Steve said. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin." He looked between Barton, Natasha, before his eyes lingered slightly on Cora. "You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers. I'll be right behind you."

"What about the core?" Barton asked, pointing at the core.

"I'll protect it," Wanda's Sokovian accent cut in. "It's my job."

Barton nodded. "Nat, Cora," he said, motioning with his head to follow him out.

Cora stayed behind a second, looking over at Wanda with a steady gaze.

"They believe in you," she said with a reassuring nod, "and so do I."

Wanda smiled thankfully before Cora headed out right behind Steve. She slid into the back seat of the car and Barton began to drive.

"You know what I need to do," Barton asked rhetorically, launching into a speech on what he needed to fix in his home. Cora tuned him out, looking at the city ruins they were leaving behind. She just hoped that Tony's plan would work.

"We don't have a lot of time," Barton said, the three agents exiting the car.

"So get your ass on a boat," was Natasha's reply, looking between the two intently before running off into a different direction.

"You've got to be shitting me," Cora scowled as both her and Barton jogged towards the safety boats. "What the fuck is all that about? Her and Banner? Is that an actual thing?"

"I don't even ask," Barton replied.

Reaching the lifeboats, Cora took a seat and used the naginata handle to lean her head against it.

Fuck it, she thought herself. I'm going to demand a month off. No, two! I'll go home, get some well-deserved family time, and get Estrella that DS she's been begging about for months. I'll even ask Ma to –

"Costel," a woman frantically yelled from the boat, interrupting Cora's thoughts. "We were in the market. Costel!"

Cora looked up and saw Barton run from the lifeboat towards what she assumed was the market. She stood, ready to follow him until Steve blocked her attempt to leave from the lifeboat.

But the sound of bullets going off to her left caught her attention, and it was nearing Barton's direction. Cora ducked under Steve's arm and ran towards Barton. Her heart pounded against her chest, running towards him and the boy he held. She heard Steve's voice faintly yell at her, but she didn't care.

She was close.

Just a few more steps...

It all happened so fast.

Her shoulder collided with Barton, and the weapon slipped her grasp as the three landed on the floor.

Cora's stomach dropped.

The sound of bullets was closer.

A string of curses left her mouth as she reached for the staff.

The sound was a few feet away.

That was it.

This is how she died.

Highlights of her life flashed through her eyes.

She remembered the first time she sold her first bag of weed to her neighbor when her family was short on money for food. Her first day at her martial arts class at the community center. Her first tournament trophy. The horrible quinceañera she wore to please her mother, and how her parents scrimped to save for that awful butter cake. The day her sisters were born, and the day she carried her niece Estrella in her arms for the first time.

She remembered...

But she never felt the impact.

"You didn't see that coming?" His Sokovian accent rang in her ears.

Her eyes snapped open. Pietro looked from Barton to her before he fell to the ground. She scrambled to grab the staff without a second thought. Her finger pressed the button, and the blue light emitted from it as it made the impact with the jet before it exploded.

It was like she blacked out for a second. It took Cora moments to realize that she was on her knees, hands on Pietro's face in an attempt to keep him awake. Unsure how she ended up with a piece of fabric in her hands, she wrapped it around his wounds in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Cora," she heard Steve's voice... but it sounded distant to her. Like he was miles away. "Cora!" His sounded much closer now, and she felt arms wrap around her waist to keep her restrained.

"It's- it's my fault," she repeated as she looked at his lifeless body.

 _Es mi culpa._


	4. steve

**steve**

* * *

 _real by years & years_

* * *

Cora blinked until her eyes adjusted to the lights of the room. The needles prodding into her arm were uncomfortable, and all she could hear was the faint heartbeat monitor coming from her side.

She regained consciousness slowly.

 _How long have I been out?_

Thinking about all the possible missed FaceTime calls from her family, she panicked. Her heartbeat raced, ripping off the needles form her arms and thinking up excuses to tell her family.

"Cora!"

What would she tell them?

"Cora!"

What did SHIELD tell her family?

"Cora!"

She had to make sure they were- hands grasped her shoulders in an attempt to keep her still. Too worried about her own family, she hadn't noticed the other person in the room.

"Corazon, stop it!"

A hand slammed against the plastic food table, snapping the agent out of the panicked state.

It was Jemma.

Cora turned to her best friend, and saw her sigh in relief as she let go. The dark circles present underneath her eyes indicated she hadn't slept in a while.

The agent gathered herself and sighed, leaning her back against the bed.

"You stink," Cora bluntly said moments after sniffing the air and looking over to her friend. Cora's throat felt like sandpaper from lack of water. Breathing in once more, she groaned. "You and I both."

Laughing, Jemma didn't bother responding to the comment and fetched her bedridden friend a glass of water. Cora was thankful as she drank from it, and happy that Jemma had decided against reattaching the needles.

"Your mum called earlier," Jemma said, placing the glass on the bedside table, aware of the alarmed state Cora exhibited once more. "Told her you forgot your phone at my place, and would let you know that she called."

Relieved, Cora couldn't imagine a life without Jemma.

"What happened?"

The door slid open before Jem could answer. Steve walked in with a bouquet of flowers, and Natasha wasn't far behind. Cora didn't fail to realize the pointed look she was given.

"These are for you," Steve said, handing over the flowers. Her cheeks were flushed, and her self-awareness kicked in, remembering her appearance and her body odor. It was a nice bouquet of assorted flowers, and she could only hope that they overpowered her smell. Since they were from Steve, she wanted to hold onto them for a bit longer but snatched from Jemma seconds later.

"They're lovely," she said with a large smile, heading out the door. "I'll go find them a vase."

"Want to tell me what happened to me?"

Never one to beat around the bush, Natasha answered.

"You passed out."

"Luckily, I was there to make sure you didn't hit your head," Steve smiled, and Cora nodded measly with a smile.

According to Steve, she had been out three days. There was a sense of relief, an 'okay' that it was only three days. It didn't compare the two week coma after Kalingrad in 2008.

"What about the Maximoff... did he, uh, did he die?"

"No," Natasha said. "Bullets missed vital parts of his body, so Dr. Cho was called to create tissue from the cradle for him. He's in ICU, sister won't leave his side."

While there was a sense of relief that she hadn't died, there an underlying presence of guilt within her. _Guilt_ that had she not tripped...

"Thanks for the flowers, even if Jem ran off with them," the brunette thanked, laughing politely as she looked at Steve. "You didn't have to."

He responded with a bright smile towards her.

"We have to go," Nat cleared her throat, patting Steve's shoulder. He nodded, and both Avengers left the room after they said their goodbyes.

There were a lot of things for her to be thankful that day.

Acting like a sane person with Steve Rogers in her vicinity was one of them.

* * *

Jemma was stuck to her like _kola loka_ (a Mexican crazy glue that once resulted in her sisters being stuck arm to arm). After being debriefed and discharged, she was allowed to go home. Without her say, the executive decision was that she would be staying at Jemma's home.

"I heard the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is supposed to be sort of good," the British one suggested as they neared city limits. The plan was to marathon a few good movies, and both debated which should be included in the list.

Cora scowled lightly, shaking her head.

"You know I like Helen Mirren over Judi Dench any day." She leaned her head against the headrest, scowling playfully at the movie suggestion.

"But Maggie Smith and Dev Patel are in the movie," Jemma refuted, turning the blinker on and turning the car to the right.

Cora didn't respond, looking out the window. Even if she did like Dev Patel, she wasn't interested in watching the movie. The premise was ridiculous to her.

Her mind wandered to Wanda, who was stuck inside a cold hospital room by herself. She felt a pang of guilt overcame her as she thought of Pietro too. IF she could kick herself... if she _just_ hadn't tripped...

Recalling the events of that day didn't help the guilt, hardly noticing her nails digging into her thigh.

Her forehead smacked against the visor, and a string of Spanish curses let her mouth. Her brown eyes turned to glare at Jemma while rubbing her forehead, but were met with equally glaring eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

Her eyes looked at their surroundings, calculating for any possible scenario and making up escape routes.

"I called your name seven times," Jemma said, "I asked you three different questions, you're digging your nails into your though and it _looks_ like you've broken your skin." Jemma sighed, swatting Cora's hands from the bare skin.

Nothing serious, but it was definitely bleeding.

Cora didn't reply, turning to people watch in the sidewalk. A few looked at the two women in the car, most likely judging Jemma's sense of parking. She claimed it was hard to parallel park.

"Remember that time I almost died by jumping off the bus and you went after me?"

Cora nodded.

"That's when I knew you were my best friend."

The sentimental tone made both women smile slightly. Cora bit her lip gently, closed her eyes but kept silent as minutes rolled by.

"Do you remember what you said to me? Well, I'll tell you anyways because it bears repeating, you said that if I ever needed to talk, day or night, that you would be there for me.

"You know that same goes for me, yeah?"

The agent nodded once more, the right corner of her lips turned upwards in a slight smile. Those were the days when SHIELD still seemed to have their shit together.

"Fine," the British one said a bit impatiently, shifting the car from park to drive. "Don't say anything but you're still staying with me."

Cora wouldn't want it any other way.

In Jemma's apartment, Cora took a seat on the couch without intention of moving anytime soon. There were no complaints from her as Jemma popped in a movie she'd never seen before. It was about some kid who was being turned into a spy, but disguised himself as a tailor.

"So Steve," Jemma said, a smirk on the her lips as she pointed at the bouquet in the middle of the coffee table. "That was nice of him, huh?"

Cora rolled her eyes at her friend's attempt to be sly, kicking her thigh lightly with the right foot before comfortably laying both legs on top of her. There was no intention of talking about the man she had been crushing on for years.

"You know, he did come visit while you were out." Jemma grinned mischievously, pushing off Cora's legs and headed to the kitchen to refill the empty popcorn bowl.

"No he didn't," Cora rolled her eyes, legs crossed as she placed a pillow over her thighs.

"And you were _drooling_ , but he was such a doll about it," Jemma laughed, shaking her head as she emptied popcorn into the bowl. "He didn't even mention it."

Her hands covered her face, groaning in embarrassment at this sudden revelation by Jemma.

"Are you lying?" Cora's muffled question was asked behind her hands.

The biochemist shook her head with a slight shrug and a knowing smirk, returning to the couch. Cora said her name, hoping to coax the women into telling her the truth.

"Define lying."

"Did he _really_ come around?"

"He did."

"And was I _really_ drooling?"

" _Well_ ," her best friend elongated the word with smirk still present, crossing her legs once she took a seat. "You _did_ drool... just maybe not in front of him but maybe I did get some good pictures."

Cora contemplated grabbing a pillow and smacking Jemma straight to the face… but the idea regressed when her eyes landed on the newly filled bowl.

"You're the worst," she said, a joking tone in her voice and a smirk. "But this won't be the last you hear from me."

"Heard _You're the Worst_ is a really good show, I'll add it to our list," Jemma said offhandedly, both digging into the popcorn bowl in peace.

Cora drifted to sleep from time to time, taking up mostly ten minutes before Jemma would wake her. She was tired from having two intense missions back to back and was attempting to stay up until a reasonable hour before sleeping. If she slept now, she'd be up by midnight.

"Do you think I should get a dog?" Cora mused, watching an emotional reunion in Marley and Me.

Jemma laughed loudly, shaking her head at the sheer idea of her best friend having a pet. "And who do you think is going to take care of it while you're gone? Certainly not me, and when we're gone at the same time? Do you expect Fury to skip down your hallway, ready to feed this dog?"

Cora sighed, knowing it was true... but she chuckled.

Fury skipping down a hall had a way of making you laugh.

* * *

Being back on base wasn't an option a week after her release. Even if she had sworn to take a month off, Cora couldn't help but feel the need to back in the field, taking bad guys down.

Work was like meth to her. Besides, who else was going to pay for her sister's college?

During her temporary stay with Jemma, Cora wasn't allowed to do anything. When she attempted to cook breakfast, Jemma ran in her sleepwear, her hair disarrayed, and yelling "no, no, no" before slapping the spatula from Cora's hands.

It meant no cooking, no cleaning and definitely not paying for meals when they were ordered in. Her current host had adamantly denied any type of money, leaving Cora the option of hiding a few $20 bills around the home.

There were times where she could confine herself in the couch, devouring trashy TV shows. But she was antsy most of the time, going crazy in the apartment and going on a run on the treadmill.

Jemma was still working, so Core spent most days alone.

Clint texted her a handful of times, mostly pictures of his most recent child… and terrible meme puns.

Steve texted her once as well, but unlike other times she didn't smile like a buffoon. She hardly noticed it.

She'd receive texts now and again from her own family, brushing off their FaceTime requests, and sticking to texts and phone calls. She wasn't sure if Jemma had terrible bathroom lighting or if her bruises really had been twice as bad. The biggest was the one above her eyebrow, and would leave a scar behind. She'd have to come up with a good excuse when she saw her parents.

It only added more to the guilt she had for lying to her parents. It also didn't help the responsibility she felt for putting Pietro in the ICU.

Saturday eventually rolled around. Her temporary roommate was out on a mission and was expected to return in a couple of days. Jemma had almost gone hesitantly, not wanting to leave Cora alone.

Three loud knocks abruptly woke her from her sleep early in the morning. She glanced at the clock, reading _8:15AM_ in bright green. Grabbing the pistol from the bedside table, she stood from the bed. There had been no plans for visitors, and had it been Jemma, she would have unlocked the door.

Silently moving towards the entrance, she looked through the peephole.

She dropped the gun on the kitchen island when she realized who it was, opening the door with a confused smile as she rubbed her eye.

"Steve, what are you doing here?" She asked, and in fear of sounding rude, added: "So early?"

He wore jeans and a light blue baseball t-shirt, a pair of sunglasses were folded against his shirt, and he held a baseball cap between his hands while bending the peak slightly. He had a kind smile on his lips, looking at his surroundings before his blue eyes landed on her.

"Your friend asked me to checkup on you," he replied, unaware that Cora was swooning at the color of his eyes.

They were just so pretty, and the small speck of green made her like them more…

And then she remembered what she was wearing.

Her cheeks lit up, the idea of burying herself into a hole sounded fantastic right about now. With a messy bun she was sure looked as greasy as it felt, a pair of Jemma's old sweatpants, and a shirt with a handful of mysterious food stains, she stood in front of Steve.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her attentively.

No! is what she wanted to yell.

"Y-yeah, I was about to take a shower so I could get ready to leave," she stuttered a little, lying thorough her teeth while signaling the bathroom over her shoulder. "Do you wanna join?"

His eyes winded at the implication of her words, and hers followed suit when she realized how it might have sounded.

"I-I meant the supermarket," she rushed her words, ready to dig that aforementioned hole. "I meant, d-do you want to join me at the supermarket? I was planning to make tamales for Jemma, um, it's the only thing she'll eat after I told her what menudo has."

She hadn't planed on making tamales, but the moment the word slipped through her mouth, she craved thirty. Jemma also did hate menudo.

"Yeah," Steve nodded, looking much more composed that Cora could bring herself to be. Welcoming him into the apartment, she offered him some water before politely stepping away to get ready.

After a quick shower, Cora brushed her hair into a high ponytail and opted out of makeup. Even if it meant her bruises would be exposed, it didn't matter. Steve knew her occupation. She dressed in a white shirt, a pair of mom jeans, tennis shoes and grabbed her purse from the bedroom before heading towards the living room.

"I'm ready," she announced as Steve stood the moment she entered the room. She wasn't used to manners like that. Grabbing the keys to the car and the apartment, she twirled them in her finger as they exited.

"It's a bit far," she informed Steve, closing up and heading down the stairs. It was about a thirty minute drive but in big cities, everything was far.

The distance made Cora nervous since she had to fill up the time with conversation. Steve was nice, but conversing about idle topics when she wasn't on a mission was difficult, even more when she wanted to cover up her mild case of road rage.

But Steve kept things simple, and if he noticed the road rage, he was kind enough not to say anything. Cora admitted that she was proud of her ability to keep herself together. Even if she did laugh hysterically for a solid three minutes when Steve sat inside Jemma's mini-cooper.

He was a tall, bulky dude in a _small_ car.

They entered a less pristine looking neighborhood in D.C., where houses were all different bright colors. Some yards were nice and trimmed while others were unkempt and full of weeds. Cora yielded for a group of kids playing soccer in the middle of the street while their parents grilled in the front yard. They looked like they were celebrating a birthday from the decorations and the large pink cake she could see. A group of women sat playing a game, and she would bet every single cent in her name that they played _loteria_.

Music blared differently from house to house but it kept the similar style of _corridos_. Steve appeared to be unfazed by the neighborhood, but she could tell it wasn't one he would frequent.

"How'd you find yourself in SHEILD?" He asked, pulling into the supermarket. It was a large square building, and was painted a awful bright pink color.

"I thought I was going in for a bodyguard job, but turns out I wasn't," she responded, recalling the day she was pulled aside by a recruiter. "It was all super secretive so I thought it was for a celebrity."

She turned off the engine, exiting the car and grabbed the nearest kart to put the items she needed.

"I mean, if you think about it, a celebrity bodyguard that could pass as a bystander? It's a great idea," she mused with a small smile. "I wasn't really into the idea of being part of SHIELD after I found out they'd be monitoring me, but I still enrolled in the academy."

Being an agent wasn't her dream job, but when she was younger, she couldn't picture herself in any type of profession. She loved it now, and wouldn't have it any other way.

"The neighborhood reminds me of home," she said to him, watching another group of kids playing soccer on an empty dirt lot. She grew up poor. The neighborhood kids were called her cousins, and they all looked after one another.

"I didn't want to live in a drastically different neighborhood when SHIELD relocated me so I asked them for, uh, a specific area," she said, pushing the kart towards the entrance.

"Relocated you?" He inquired.

"I was based in Bereza for a couple of years since Russian is my third language," she said with a shrug, kind of missed the cold winters.

"So that's why you and Natasha suddenly speak Russian to each other," Steve said, his tone surprised as if he found out that the sky was blue.

"Among other things," she shrugged, a slight smirk on her face.

"Other things?" He asked.

"She hasn't… Natasha didn't tell you?" She acted stunned, stopping the kart in the empty aisle.

He shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at her curiously.

"We used to date."

The reaction was priceless as she took it in. His shocked face looked at her in disbelief, grasping the concept as his mouth fell agape. He was attempting to comprehend the new information.

Cora's lips quirked into a small smirk, but it didn't last. In just a few seconds, it turned into a large grin until she burst into laughter. She leaned against the orange kart, wiping the tears that were escaping her eyes.

"You-you should've se-seen your f-face," she said between laughter, hoping the kart wouldn't roll off. " _Ay dios mio_ , it was so worth it, your face was priceless! Why didn't I take a photo? Nat would've loved it!"

Cora fanned herself to try and keep her heated face cool. After a few minutes, she turned to the confused Steve with a genuine grin.

"I'm sorry, couldn't help myself," she hiccupped, "I just… I really needed the laugh."

He only smiled politely, but perplexed.

"What's the true story then?" Steve asked, watching Cora throw a bag of sixty cornhusks into the kart. They turned to the aisle with the pinto beans, and she grabbed two plastic bags.

"Nat is my S.O. or well, used to be," she replied calmly. "I randomly call her _uchitel_ which means teacher, and one a rare occasion, she calls me _uchashchiysya_ , which means student."

Steve nodded, but couldn't wrap his head around the idea of Natasha being a supervising officer. Especially to someone like Cora. He didn't know her very well, but on the surface they were different.

They went through the supermarket to pick up a couple other things she needed. Now comfortable with Steve, the idle chat wasn't as difficult as Cora had initially thought.

"I think this is the most at ease I've ever seen you around me," Steve suddenly said, startling Cora. Her shoulders tensed, keeping her eyes on the bag of _maseca_ she was pretending to read.

"Oh?"

For a second, Steve regretted speaking his observations out loud. Her walls were now up, and her eyes keen on the bag that was now being held tighter. She placed the bag in the kart without glancing at him, and pushed it to the next aisle.

She could feel his stare, making her want to shrink so she could end this conversation. Cora kind of hated herself for her inability to compartmentalize her feelings – and action that Natasha tried to teach her. Key word was try.

"You had me thinking you didn't like me for a while," Steve said with a small smile, trying to keep the mood light. Her cheeks burned up as she grabbed the shortening and added it to the kart.

Her mind raced, knowing that her every movement was being studied.

It's what agents did.

It's what she did.

Cora turned to look at him straight in the eyes.

"Trust me, I've never hated you."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, well, well, well, well. Did I get that number right, Dwight? *cough* that's a _The Office_ reference. SOOOOOO who saw CA3? I can officially have a team now. I saw it, hooray! Did I cry in the theatre? Yes. Were there more people that I thought there would be on a noon on Friday? Yes. Was I ashamed? Erm, maybe.

Sorry about the long wait... new job, new training, new life stuff. Boo.


	5. wanda

Wanda

* * *

 _i won't let you go by snow patrol_

* * *

 **15 May 20XX**

The plastic bag that was full of assorted tamales clung from her index and middle finger, swinging back and forth as she walked down the new SHIELD HQ corridor. After ultimately promising that she wasn't here to work, and was only a visitor to drop food for the Cap, she was allowed in.

It had been a couple of days since her little fieldtrip with Steve. Cora wished she could have called Jemma to talk about it, but she was out for the week on a mission. She didn't want to disturb her.

Dreamboat America hadn't stayed much longer after they finished up shopping. But he made her promise to bring him some tamales once she finished.

In a very Latino household tradition, food was never made in an amount you could eat in one day. So on an early Sunday morning, back at her place, Cora spent it making five-dozen tamales. It was boring without her family, she had no gossip to hear about her _Tia's-prima's_ - _boyfriend's- lover_. But she spent of the time on the phone with her _mamá_ but it wasn't the same.

Cora smiled at the thought of the matriarch. Her mother had chastised her for making all the tamales one kind, so the agent had gone out and bought the ingredients to make tamales out of pork and chicken.

Out of the five-dozen she had made, two dozen were in the swinging bag. Unfamiliar with the new headquarters, Cora had spent the last half hour lost while trying to find Steve.

Sighing in defeat, she leaned against the wall in an empty corridor.

 _How the fuck am I going to get out if I'm lost now?_ She thought to herself, annoyed.

The sound of a person scurrying around made her turn her head, making her way towards then in attempt to catch up. A woman was wearing a white lab coat, with a stethoscope hanging from her neck, and her hair was tied up in a tight bun on top of her head. She vaguely recognized her as the doctor that treated her a week prior, but couldn't remember her name.

"Hey, wait!" Cora yelled, turning the corner. Instead of finding the Doctor, she stood outside glass doors. No doctor seen. Cora was quick to assume it was the hospital unit… since she could see swinging doors across the glass ones that read "intensive care unit" in fat red letters.

The Maximoff twins were there.

Cora frowned as the familiar pang of guilt consumed her once more

She told herself to take a step back, but her feet moving forward instead. The glass doors slid open, and when Cora peeked towards the reception area, she was surprised to find it empty.

Who the fuck left their patients, especially agents of _value_ , without proper supervision at the front?

Cora glanced at the ICU door, and saw the unmistakable panel that required a card. Tightening her lips, she inched towards the reception desk and resisted the urge to groan loudly. Some idiot had left their card for the whole world to see.

Nicking the card, the Latina dashed towards the ICU doors before anyone else could come by and stop her, and flashed the card towards the panel.

It let her in seamlessly into the ICU.

Irritated at how _easy_ it had been to access the place, she nearly wanted to turn around and play receptionist to make sure nobody unwanted stopped by. Looking down at the card, she would make sure _Mark Johansson_ would get fired for leaving his post unattended.

She grabbed a nearby clipboard; flipping through the pages and found the room number Pietro was staying in. She hoped Wanda would be there.

 _Has SHIELD always been_ this _sloppy with security?_

She placed it back, and passed a few nurses. None of them bothered enough to look up or even stop her to validate her credentials. It made her cringe. Though, maybe it was her own sense of guilt knowing she wasn't technically supposed to be here. It made her wish someone would stop her to call her out.

Standing outside the door, the plastic bag swung a little as her free hand balled up into a fist and her knuckles touched the door. Cora didn't knock, contemplating whether or not she should even be here. Her gut told her no. Her heart said yes.

Sighing, she knocked twice. The clipboard declared Pietro was still in a coma, so she figured he wouldn't be the one answering. And when no one did, she grabbed the handle tightly and opened slightly. In her mental pros and cons list, there were definitely more cons than pros – starting with Wanda's ability to manipulate you into seeing your darkest fears.

Cora wondered how many friendly faces Wanda had actually seen since she arrived though.

Natasha? _Nah,_ Cora scoffed immediately.

Steve? _Maybe_.

The only person she could be sure of was Clint. But with the news of Nathanial being born, she doubted they were frequent visits.

With no friendly faces, and being considered part of Hydra before the battle of Sokovia, Wanda must have felt isolated. The lurch in her stomach reminded her that the most important person in her life was in a coma, and that it had been her fault.

 _If I hadn't fucking slipped_ … she thought for the hundredth time that day.

But one question loomed over her. Did Wanda know?

In the end, she sucked it up and pushed her shoulder into the door to open it.

Hell, did Wanda even _remember_ her?

Wanda's bright green eyes were on her. They were bloodshot red with dark bags under them, but they still went wide open at the sudden visitor.

She contemplated closing the door and turning back without a word.

But she couldn't… especially when her brown eyes landed on the silver-haired man on the bed. In her entire espionage career, she had never felt so guilty about putting someone in a hospital bed.

It was irritating the shit out of her.

Forcing herself to look back a Wanda, Cora rubbed her arm with her free hand with a small smile creeping onto her lips. It was one of those smiles were you weren't sure if it was guilt or for an apology.

The room was dull. A typical hospital room that mirrored exactly as hers had been about a week ago. The walls were white but had a gray tint because of the closed curtains. The only lighting provided was the lamp on the nightstand – it had an ugly yellow hue – that was between the bed and the couch Wanda sat in. Across the bed were drawers for clothes – she was sure they were empty – with a microwave and a coffee pot on top.

It felt lifeless to her.

Her heart felt heavy.

"Hi," Cora greeted with the same shaky smile. "I don't know if you remember me but, I'm Agent Cora Gonzalez. Have you eaten yet?"

Wanda didn't respond, leaving the two with an uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Cora was absolutely, undeniably positive Wanda just _knew_ about her slip.

Suddenly, Wanda slowly shook her head.

"I've got food here, if you want some."

Guess the food wasn't for Steve anymore. Cora raised the plastic bag up so Wanda could take a better look, taking a small step towards the couch. She thought about taking a seat, but decided against it.

The Sokovian was ghastly pale, and smelled like she hadn't showered in days.

"They're tamales," Cora explained, taking out a dozen that were wrapped in tinfoil and opening them to show her. "It's like… like a homemade burrito but instead of a taco, it's like bread that has filling and you have to unwrap the leaf from it."

Wanda looked at the agent skeptically. Cora unwrapped a tamale and broke a piece to eat it. Wanda shook her head seconds later.

"I'm not hungry," she said with an empty tone, looking at her brother sullenly.

"When's the last time you ate?"

Cora didn't get a response. It reminded her of the time she had to convince her niece to eat while her sister had to get her gallbladder removed. She would use the same sentence.

"Do you think he'd be happy knowing you aren't eating?" Cora questioned, following Wanda's gaze towards Pietro.

No response.

"I'm gonna go," Cora said, leaving the bag of tamales on the couch. She didn't want to overstep boundaries more. She waved goodbye.

Once she closed the door, she let out a heavy sigh.

Now all she had to do was find Steve and let him know his food was postponed.

* * *

 **17 May 20XX**

Growing up, Cora thrived on conflict. She confronted her sister's bully, hanging him off a jungle gym and told him to stop his bullshit. When she heard Gerardo, her former drug supplier, was planning on coaxing Sol to sell drugs to college students, Cora didn't hesitate to point a gun to his head. It's what she did to make sure her sisters didn't live off the streets. Like hell was she going to let her sisters do the same.

The point was, while she had known Wanda for only a few days, Pietro much less, Cora wasn't troubled about sneaking into Dr. Foreskin's office early one morning. In honesty, she couldn't remember his actual name, opting to give him a nickname because of his abnormally large, baldhead that made him look like a dick.

He wasn't her physician, but he was head of the medical unit.

She had full access now to the sector now, much to Foreskin's chagrin. You could only imagine the smirk on her face when she returned the second time that day to find a nurse sitting at the desk. She looked angry, but at least Mark Johansson had been taken care of.

Two bags filled with Mickey D's greasy fries were tightly held by Cora as she made her way towards the Maximoff's room. Opening the door, she invited herself in and raised the bags so Wanda could see them.

"Hey Wanda," she said, forcing her eyes to stay on the brunette and stood near the couch. "I brought you some greasy, but oddly satisfying, food."

The Sokovian kept silent, but she didn't look as underfed as she had a couple days ago. A tiny, genuine smile spread onto Wanda's lips when she noticed a plastic bag filled with ball foils and cornhusks in the bin.

Cora placed the brown bags on the seat, not taking a seat.

"You should try them," she advocated with a smile.

Wanda transfixed her eyes on the bags, looked at the agent carefully and then back to the bag. Her green eyes turned to her brother silently.

The Latina's eyes followed, biting her lip with a frown. Without saying anything else, Cora slipped out and returned home with an itch to cook.

* * *

 **18 May 20XX**

She was carrying four round Ziploc containers that were stacked onto each other with plastic spoons on top.

The bowls were filled with various soups Cora had made the night prior. She entered the room, eyes landing on the empty spot Wanda usually sat in. Hearing the distinct sound of the shower turning on, she realized what Wanda was doing.

 _Thank God_ , she thought but immediately regretted it.

She placed the soups on the countertop, next to the microwave. While she fiddled with the tops, it wasn't long before her eyes landed on Pietro.

It had been about two weeks since the Battle of Sokovia, and the female's counterpart looked like he wasn't any closer to waking up. Attempting to keep a positive spin on things, Cora reminded herself that at least his health hadn't deteriorated.

Her head titled slightly to the left, studying his face.

Pietro was handsome – she knew that. The scruff on his face was getting longer since no one had obviously bothered to come trim or shave it. But she thought it didn't look too bad. The dark brown of his beard, compared to his silver locks made her momentarily wonder if he dyed it or if it was just part of the by-product of his enhancement. He seemed muscular, but it was hard to tell with the gowns the medical united provided.

She wondered what his eye color was. Were they green like his sisters? Or were they brown? For the life of her, she couldn't remember from their time in Sokovia.

The water shut off, snapping Cora out of her trance and turning back to the counter in attempt to look busy. She looked at anything that wasn't him and a satisfactory smile landed on her lips when her eyes landed on the empty McDonald's bag in the bin.

The door handle jiggled open, and Cora kept her hands and eyes busy with the soup containers. Hopefully, she looked like she had just arrived and that she hadn't been ogling the coma patient…

"Oh hey," Cora greeted an octave higher than usual, arms showcasing the soups dramatically as if she was a model with _The Price Is Right_. "I brought you more food!"

Wanda looked better.

The bags under her eyes weren't sunken, wasn't as pale and she looked somewhat refreshed. The green-eyed woman stared at Cora, towards the food and back to her.

But her eyes still looked dead.

"So I brought different kinds of soup because I wasn't sure what you'd be into," Cora confessed, turning around to point at each container. "This one is the classic chicken noodle soup, this one is _sopa de albondigas,_ which basically means meatball soup but let's be real, that doesn't sound as appetizing unless it's in Spanish.

"But then I realized that I have _no_ idea if you're a vegetarian or not so I made meatless borscht and cabbage soup as well," she finished.

The last two were more Eastern European dishes. She felt that Wanda could use some comfort food. Had one of Cora's close family members been at the hospital, all she'd want to eat was _mole_ *.

Wanda hung her towel on the bathroom door to dry, taking her usual spot on the couch. Accustomed to her silence and being looked like an intruder, Cora stood near the door.

"My apartment," Cora said abruptly, the words slipping out of her mouth without thinking them through. "I've, uh, got an extra bed, you could watch some TV, get your mind off things?"

Nothing.

 **22 May 20XX**

Cora had been reinstated to her job a few days ago, and she couldn't be more thrilled. They hadn't placed her in any field missions yet, so most of it was doing some training or basic paperwork - _her favorite_.

Things were still winding down after the battle and loose ends were being tied up. But she was aware of the newer threats arising, especially the group of Mexican nationalists backed by Hydra in the Guatemalan border. She didn't know much about it, and was denied to take the case. But new threats were always rising.

Eventually, she made the time to visit Wanda. She hadn't stopped by since she dropped off the soups. Cora kind of hoped Wanda would take up the offer to stay at least one night in her apartment. The poor girl was sleeping on a small, uncomfortable couch.

Knocking, Cora opened the door. Before looking at the occupants, they landed on the empty bowls first. There was something oddly satisfying knowing that someone ate your food.

"I forgot to bring food today," Cora admitted shamefully, picking up the empty containers and stuffing them in her oversized gym bag. She had to do dishes that evening anyways.

"Why have you been so nice to me? After everything I have caused?"

Wanda looked better than when Cora first stopped by. Her face was less sullen, her cheeks had a hint of pink, and she seemed to be showering regularly from the clean hair. Her eyes were a bit brighter, and not as tired. Cora stopped halfway, startled by the question.

So Wanda didn't know it was her fault Pietro was in that bed.

"I'd hate to be in your position," Cora said, shoving down the real reason down her throat. She couldn't outright say she felt responsible for Pietro's state. Placing the gym bag on the floor, she made her way and took a seat on the couch for the first time. Silence overcame both women and Cora deliberated if she had killed the conversation by sitting.

It was a dumb thought but it lingered.

"My brother, he moved his arm today," Wanda said thick with emotion, observing her Pietro with a smile. "I am confident he will wake up soon."

Cora kept silent, unsure what to say.

"The doctor says he is showing improvement, it is minimal but it is improvement," the twins sighed, looking at Cora with a faint smile. "He is to be moved to a new room tomorrow."

Wanda's eyes were filled with hope.

"Thank you," she said, turning her eyes to her brother after. "You have been kind in bringing me food, and you were right. He would have been greatly upset had he woken up and seen me in a miserable state."

* * *

 **26 May 20XX**

There were seven different meal containers being balanced from her arms. Cora cursed at herself, thinking it would be an easy task and regretting not bringing a bag to carry them easily. If Natasha saw her, she'd be less than thrilled knowing that her pupil wasn't able to balance basic containers.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, fuck," she repeatedly cursed when the stack of meals began to lean a little to right to her liking. Cora was attempting to make it to the new Maximoff room to drop some food off. She was comfortable by the thought that Wanda wouldn't be starving or eating cardboard hospital food.

"I'm going to take these from you," she heard.

It was Steve.

She felt his fingers brush onto hers as he relieved her from some of them, but it didn't last long.

"Thanks," Cora smiled appreciatively at his gestures once they faced each other. She hadn't seen him in a while. He had gone off on a mission the day after Cora had left the tamales with Wanda, and had only recently returned.

"Are these for me?" He teased, looking over at Cora with his ever-cheerful eyes.

Her cheeks felt warm, and she said no. They had conversed once over the phone during his time away, praising her for the tamales and asking for a lesson. She had written it off as only being kind; however, she promised she would teach him after the confession of his cooking abilities not exceeding anywhere past grilled cheese or boiled eggs.

It had made her laugh.

"They're for Wanda actually," She responded, motioning for them to continue walking towards the medical wing.

"That's nice of you," he smiled down, passing the entry doors as Cora shrugged and avoiding his blue eyes. Asking the new receptionist nicely, he gave them directions towards the new room.

"Are you planning on attending Clint's barbeque next Saturday?" Steve asked, this time looking away from Cora. She was planning on going, but was hoping to convince Wanda to join once Clint gave the okay. She was excited to finally met Clint's family since she'd only seen them in pictures.

"Yeah," she smiled brightly, standing outside of the room with the door in the handle. Steve's cheeks were slightly red… and…was Steve going to ask her to go together?

The sudden thought made her body weight shift onto the handle, and it swung open.

"Oh shit."

She lost her balance, fumbling onto the ground and was glad Steve was the one holding the food. A string of curse words in three different languages went through her mind, embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry Wanda, I didn't mean-"

She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes locked onto the bright blue eyes that stared back at her. Her cheeks felt hot, turning into a light shade of red as the embarrassment of it all.

 _Siniy_.

Pietro was awake.

She felt meek, awkward under his gaze as Steve held out his hand to help her out. He asked if she was okay, but she busied herself by arranging the meals on the counter.

"I'm fine," she said.

He exchanged pleasantries with the Maximoffs, and exited out to inform the rest of the Avengers about Pietro.

"So," his accent was thick, making her nervous as the shiver down her spine caused her goose bumps, "She is the one that has been feeding you?

Wanda responded with what Cora could only assume was a yes in Sokovian.

Wearing an old college shirt, sweatpants, sneakers, she felt drastically underdressed beneath his gaze. Her hair was tied up into a messy bun since her next stop was supposed to be the gym. She gathered herself up, chastising herself as she reminded that she was _twenty-nine_ and _not_ a twelve-year-old schoolgirl.

But he was hot.

 _Very hot_.

Clearing her throat, she turned to the twins with a nervous smile.

"So food's there," she said, rubbing her neck with her hand, looking at Wanda. "I made some potatoes filled pierogies, which I would recommend eating first since I don't want the dough to get gross and because of the sour cream."

Her eyes turned to Pietro.

And she was fucked.

"But, um, h-had I known you would be awake, I would've, um, made some m-more."

He laughed – _what the fuck,_ even his laugh was attractive – earning a slap on the arm from his sister. Cora smiled, relaxing a bit at the typical siblings fighting.

"Right," she gathered, taking a step backwards to the door. "So I'm gonna, um, I'm gonna go find Steve now."

Her back bumped into the door's edge.

 _And maybe drown myself_ , she thought, rubbing her back with her hand from the pain.

"Wait!" Wanda pleaded, stopping her. "I was wondering if your offer is still open to stay at your home."

* * *

** moul-eh

 **A/N:** hi there! i just wanted to make sure there was a distinction between mole and _mole_ , since one's a mammal and the other is a mexican dish. i actually really find it gross, but that's just a person preference. blüg. ICYDK, siniy is russian for blue *shrug*. stop by and say hi if you're able to! :) and if anybody knows sebastian stan's number, forward it to me bc i'd love to date him... k bye.

p.s. thank you to TheFlameRose & equalopportunityobsessor for being my awesome betas!

~ vaindaisy


	6. pietro

Pietro

* * *

real by years and years

* * *

Roommates were _not_ the ideal situation for her. To reject Wanda's request, _especially_ since she _had_ already invited her of her own volition, however foolish and impulsive that had been, would just have been a dick move. After a short conversation with a reinstated Fury, everything had been arranged.

That had been a week ago. The Maximoff twins were expected to arrive bright and early Tuesday morning. So when Tuesday rolled around. The agent was up before the sun making sure the apartment was spotless. She was far from a slob, but the extra bedroom she never utilized had been gathering dust over the years.

Her burgeoning nerves didn't seem to fade, and thought a hot shower would wash it away. But it didn't work.

In the living room, she looked at the open window. Should she keep it open or closed? After she mulled over the pointless decision, she determined to just leave it when the doorbell rang.

Taking a deep breath, Cora headed to the door and opened it with a nervous smile.

It dropped immediately.

"Nat," Cora greeted apprehensively, unsure why her mentor was standing outside her door.

Nat graciously waltzed into the bare apartment, looking around before her eyes landed on Cora. The younger woman closed the door, cringing slightly under the observant stare.

"ты не привязывайся," were the first words that come out of her former supervising officer.

Cora resisted the urge to roll her eyes, biting the inside of her lower lip at what sounded like a command. _As if you never became attached to people_ , Cora deliberated to herself. Barton and family? Steve? Didn't they count as "attachments"?

"They're not bad people," Cora countered, annoyed.

"They were with Hydra," Nat replied quickly, calmly.

It shut her up, and Natasha gave her a knowing look. The Russian woman wasn't oblivious to the weaknesses her protégé possessed. Especially when it came to handsome men with blue eyes.

"I should've put a stop to your visits when I found out," Nat spat out uselessly, knowing she couldn't do much now. "You get attached quickly, easily and you know – "

"You didn't see me try and stop you from _attempting_ to find Dr. Banner, did I?" Cora scoffed.

The redhead crossed her arms with a glare. A soft spot had been hit. Nat didn't like being reminded that her attempts to find Banner had been futile. Cora's shoulders squared, unimpressed and infuriated that Natasha was treating her like some level one agent.

The knock on the door startled both women, and Cora was thankful for the interruption. Glancing back at Natasha, she was gone and the window was shut.

Shaking it off, Cora smiled broadly as she opened the door. The twins stood next to each other with wary smiles, and Agent Gregory accompanied them with a large scowl. He wasn't happy about playing babysitter.

"Come on in," she said, moving to the side as the twins walked in and eyed their new surroundings. Each of them carried a single bag, and Cora's stomach plummeted.

They must have lost a lot, or had next to nothing.

Gregory didn't say much to Cora, and walked away without a goodbye.

"He was a barrel of laughs on our way here," Pietro quipped, making Wanda giggle and Cora grin. Greg was often in the stick-up-his-ass routine.

But Pietro's remark eased her anxiety.

"So this is where I live," she said, motioning the area. It had the bare necessities, the only rooms that looked lived in were her room, bathroom and as of most recently, the kitchen. The small tour of her place didn't take long, and they finished up inside the spare bedroom.

The room was big enough to fit two twin-sized beds. The walls were an off-white color, the windows draped with new curtains and the carpet was a gray. Currently, it only situated an old mattress, which was leaned up against one of the walls, and a medium-sized dresser.

"So how are we going to do this?" Cora asked as she looked between the twins. Her eyes didn't linger too long on Pietro though. "Do you two plan on sharing the room, or would you like to share a room with me, Wanda?"

They looked at each other, exchanging a few words in Sokovian – Wanda said "ew" and punched Pietro in the arm, and Cora immediately made a mental note to learn Sokovian – and then looked back at her.

"He and I will share the room," Wanda said.

"We'll have to go shopping for twin beds tomorrow," Cora said, taking a mental note. "One of you can sleep in the spare mattress and the other can take my bed."

"No, we couldn't leave you without a bed," Wanda remarked.

"Or we could share a bed," Pietro teased with a smirk.

Cora's cheeks rapidly reddened, she stiffened and was at a loss of words after the implication. Wanda yelled at him in their native language, punching his arm again.

"I'm sorry about him," Wanda sighed, rolling her eyes.

"It was only a suggestion," Pietro mumbled with crossed arms, but his lips still showcased his devilish smirk.

Face still flushed, Cora cleared her throat as she concentrated on looking at Wanda solely. "Y-yeah, n-no, don't worry about it," the Latina stammered, biting the inside of her cheek afterwards.

"So Clint invited us for a barbeque at his place, but I if you guys don't want to go and wish to get settled… or um, you know…"

She crossed her arms. How did having roommates function again? It'd been close to ten years since she had one.

"I'm going to be making a cake, so if you guys want help or something, just let me know."

Wanda mumbled she was going to shower, but not before giving Pietro a glare to as if to tell him not to overstep his boundaries.

Cora was focused on the items she needed for her cake, attempting to forget Pietro's comments and Natasha's unanticipated visit.

"I think you should consider it," Pietro said, startling Cora from her focus. How was she even an agent if he could sneak up on her?

"Consider what?" She responded, seemingly aloof as she filled a bowl of flour and pre-heated the oven.

"Consider you and I sharing a bed, of course," he chuckled.

"Uhm, no thank you," Cora mumbled. She mentally cringed at how nervous her response sounded, turning to open the fridge to grab the items she needed. When she closed it, she hadn't expected to see him leaning against the fridge, and she almost dropped the eggs in her hand.

He was at least a head taller than her, and while she was no stranger to looking up at people that were over five-foot-six, something about having to look up at him to meet his eyes sent tingles down her spine.

Trying to keep herself busy to look less like a fool, she continued making the cake. She felt like she was being eyed up and down, and she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination.

Looking at him from the corner of her eye, she scowled when she noticed what he was doing.

"Don't sit on my counters," she snapped without thinking. The words tumbled out of her mouth instinctively, her eyes widening, ready to apologize but instead…

"Oh my god, I sound like my mother," she whispered.

He laughed, not moving from the counter as he shook his head mirthfully and looked at Cora in amusement. A small smile crept onto her lips when he heard him laugh, grabbing the different cans of evaporated milk from the pantry.

He had a cute laugh.

"I'm being serious though, get off," she stated, looking at him with an annoyed glare and swatting the spatula in the air.

He pushed himself off the counter with a smirk and sat on the on the kitchen island instead as he watched her movements.

Cora bit the inside of her cheek, bucked up and pushed him off her counter.

"That's not very nice," he teased, watching her turn to the kitchen aid mixer with flushed cheeks.

"I'm not very nice," she joked, glancing at him over her shoulder.

He looked at her up and down once more with a smirk, and Cora quickly turned back in embarrassment. She heard him walk away with a chuckle.

Steve had offered to pick her up a few days ago, and wouldn't take no for an answer. She'd argued with him on principle, even though she wanted more than anything to say yes. _'Besides_ ,' he had argued persuasively, ' _you don't know where Clint lives_.' She conceded the point, even though she easily could have gotten directions from Nat, or even Clint himself. Still, she was rewarded with Steve's blinding smile when she agreed, and so the arrangements were made.

Despite the small corner of her brain that had been anxiously cataloguing the minutes until she would see Steve again, she still managed to forget all about it after being riled up by Pietro. So Cora was startled a couple hours later when Steve appeared in front of her, clearing his throat to catch her attention while she placed the final touches on the cake.

"Hey!" Cora smiled nervously, while placing the tube of icing down and dusting her hands off on her apron. She was unaware of the twins watching their interaction from the living room. "You're here early." She hadn't even noticed him _knocking_.

Steve laughed, "I'm actually two minutes late."

"Oh," she let out, glancing at the oven's clock. "Give me twenty minutes, and I'll be right back, promise!"

Cora rushed to her room, muttering a string of Spanish curses while brushing her hair into a high ponytail. She quickly changed into a pair of ankle skinny jeans, a blue and white-striped shirt before spraying some perfume and made her way back to the living room.

"I'm ready to go."

Wanda giggled, and Steve smiled indulgently.

"You forgot your shoes genius," Pietro laughed.

* * *

Cora was starving by the time all four arrived at Clint's farm; worse, her stomach had decided to be _obvious_ about it. It grumbled loudly several times throughout the trip and every time it did, she hoped no one would point it out. But Wanda would smirk, Steve would smile kindly and Pietro would chuckle.

Wanda was a changed person.

There was a change with Wanda as a whole, and it hadn't gotten unnoticed by Cora. Wanda was giddy, and why wouldn't she? Her brother was out of a coma. The Latina understood. Had her siblings been the same position Pietro had been in, she would have been equally as devastated.

"You must be Cora, I'm so glad to _finally_ meet you! It's so great to put a face to the name!" She was a short woman, with long brunette hair that passed her chest. A warm smile graced her lips as she greeted the Latina with a tight hug.

"I've heard so much from Clint and Nat," the agent responded while returning the embrace.

"It's like I already know you," Laura laughed, moving towards the rest with a promise to talk later.

Cora met the Barton kids. Cooper, the eldest, had been initially timid towards the strangers in his home. Lila greeted each person like an old friend, quickly asking if any of them had super powers.

They were the first group to arrive, and they dissolved into different groups. Clint, Steve and Pietro had gone outside to get things going in the grill. Cora rolled her eyes, deeming it idiotic that they hadn't even asked if they needed her help. She probably knew more than they did combined since she was Mexican for fuck's sake. Besides, how much could Pietro help? Were barbeques even popular in Sokovia? What help could he _possibly_ be?

Cora almost followed them out, ready to teach them a thing or two about grilling. But when she saw Nathaniel, she wanted nothing but to carry the child. She never desired kids growing up, and even now, but she did enjoy spending time with them.

"How is he so cute?!" Cora cooed, bouncing the child lightly in her arms while looking at Laura. "Are you sure this is Clint's kid?"

The Barton matriarch laughed loudly, assuring Cora that it was Clint's child. When Laura went to check on the men, Cora saw Wanda using her powers in front of the other two Barton kids from the corner of her eye.

The initial instinct made Cora head towards the living room to make sure the young woman wasn't using it on the children. When she realized she wasn't, Cora leaned against the doorframe with Nathaniel in her arms, and watched in equal curiosity as Cooper and Lila.

"That's so cool," Lila grinned, her brother nodding along in excitement.

It was cool.

Cora could take someone down in less than ten seconds, but there were times where the lack of superpowers made her feel out of place with SHIELD, or the Avengers by that extent. Yes, Tony, Natasha and Clint didn't have any, but their level of experience made her feel inferior.

While she had no intention of submitting herself to experimentation, she often debated what superpower she'd like to have. She often settled in having powers like Kirby, and even if he were a fictional Nintendo character, it'd be cool to absorb someone's abilities temporarily.

When Laura returned, she took Nathaniel from Cora's arms, stating she would be putting the kid to bed. Cora was disappointed.

With Banner's disappearance, he wasn't expected to come. Thor was still up in the air, and she bet Clint twenty bucks he wouldn't show up. Cora was hoping he wouldn't. They hadn't spoken since Sokovia, and Thor had given some indication he wanted to talk to her about her improved naginata.

Clint was twenty bucks richer half an hour later. Tony, Pepper, Nat, Sam and Thor arrived. Cora had begrudgingly given Clint the money – she was sure he had cheated, but she had no way to prove it. Nat and Cora greeted each other tersely, both upset over the minor confrontation earlier.

The group all took seats outside on the porch, taking in the fresh air. Days like these always made Cora thankful for making it through a mission. Conversations filled the space between all of them. Thor was ecstatic over the food, declaring it delicious and applauded Clint every bite he took. It was delicious, and Clint was so smug over his cooking skills that Laura had to constantly remind him that she had prepped it on her own.

It was almost like home, Cora thought. If you added loud music, and crowded scenery, it was almost like Cora was back in Chicago with her family.

And just like family, it didn't take long before Tony began to tease her.

" _Corazon_ ," Tony rolled his R, making the agent visibly cringe at how weird it sounded from Tony. For a second, she considered teaching a Spanish class for SHIELD agents – at least one for the Avengers.

Well, for Tony.

Tony was the one who needed it. She was sure Pepper would find a way to make him go.

"I hear our very own Captain America brought you here. Is that true?" He asked, pointing at her with the beer's peak.

Cora's cheeks immediately heated up, taking a drink from the beer she was nursing. She looked anywhere Tony's and Steve's general direction.

"Tony," Pepper warned.

"What? It's only a question," Tony smiled, as if he was posing an innocent inquiry.

"What's wrong with that?" Steve asked, curious as he looked between Tony and Cora. Her brown eyes snapped towards Sam and Clint, both amused by the situation and Steve's oblivious nature.

"Nothing," Cora responded, looking at Tony with a glare. She wanted to punch him, and she had _yet_ to do so after what he caused in Sokovia. But Fury had given her strict orders to not cause any physical or mental harm to any of the Avengers – and while it took much restraint, she planned on following orders.

"No."

The team looked at Steve, surprised by the single word.

"No, what?" Tony arched his eyebrow, edging Steve to continue.

"I want to know why you always do this to her," he stated with crossed arms, his eyebrows furrowed as his blue eyes matched up with Tony's own.

"Well isn't it obvious? I think she's made it pretty obvious, right?" The billionaire said, turning to point at the rest of the team with his finger.

"Tony," Pepper warned with an icy glare. Interactions with CEO had always been minimal, but Cora was suddenly very thankful to have her on her side. She was intimidating when she was angry.

"Huh," Tony grinned smugly as he ignored Pepper, arms crossed. "I guess the ice has yet to thaw some things out, or are you that slow?" When Steve continued to look confused, Tony shook his head.

"Seriously Corazon, _this_ guy?" He asked, looking at the flustered woman.

"What's your problem?" Steve demanded, taking a step towards Tony.

"Come on guys, this isn't worth it," Nat remarked, studying the situation warily. Steve and Tony were inches apart. Sam, Clint and Thor were ready to jump in. Laura sent her kids inside. Pepper's face was red in frustration, and the Maximoff twins watched the situation unfold in curiosity.

"You'd think after such a long time, someone like you would pick up on social queues," Tony said with a grin. Pepper scoffed loudly.

"You're so full of shit Tony," Steve growled.

Tony's grin turned into a smirk.

Sam took a step forward to stop them, because while Steve's cursing was usually amusing to the whole team, there was nothing funny about another confrontation between the two superheroes.

As days went by, Steve found Tony more and more exasperating and was constantly berating him for his lack of responsibility. For Tony, it wasn't about Steve's lack of context or social awareness anymore. It was about pride. Neither wanted to be the first to back down.

"It's because I love you, Steve."

Cora stood, biting her lip as she looked at the man she had been in love with for a few years. She wouldn't meet his eyes though.

She was frustrated, annoyed, and most of all, she was humiliated. She cleared her throat after seconds of dead silence.

"I'm going to go now," she stated, slightly proud that her voice didn't crack.

Her eyes were swelling but she sucked it up. Crying was for _idiotas_.

Even with the disagreement with Nat earlier, Cora glanced at the Russian. Natasha has no qualms about giving her the keys to the rented car as Cora passed by her. Right now, she was regretting riding with Steve. She felt pairs of eyes following her inside as she collected her things, and on them again when she returned to the porch.

"Laura, thank you so much for having me," Cora thanked with her voice an octave higher than usual. "I do hope you all enjoy the cake."

She faced the twins with a tight smile, "And you guys can come with me or ride with one of them."

Turning on her heel, she hustled to the car while sending a quick SOS message to Jemma. There was a small satisfaction of hearing Pepper yell at Tony, followed by a loud smack.

There was a series of emotions and thoughts that were running through her head. Cora had always prided herself in being strong-willed, but her culture taught her to sit around and wait for a man. It's not like she actually did, but somewhere deep down, she always wanted Steve to confess some deep-seated feelings for her.

And while she had never intended to keep her feelings in for such a long time, the dream scenario included getting over it and laughing it off years later with him.

She opened the car's door, only for it to be slammed closed by Steve's arm, coming out from nowhere over her shoulder.

"I didn't know," he began apologetically with red cheeks, arm keeping the door closed. Despite that, she kept trying to open it.

Taking a deep breath, she knew with desperation that she had to nip the conversation in the butt.

"Look, don't worry about it," she responded, glancing at him over her shoulder.

From peripheral view, she saw the Avengers attempt to be discreet in their eavesdropping. "How are some of you even spies?" She shouted towards them, hoping Steve would get distracted. It was his team, after all, that was currently disgracing the name of covert operatives everywhere.

"How long?"

It didn't work.

"How long what?" She said, but her tone wasn't nearly as unaffected as she needed it to be.

He knew that.

"Four years," she muttered.

Steve was stunned, face going blank while dropping his arm from the car door. Cora took the opportunity to slip in, surprised to see the Maximoffs already sitting inside.

A silent sigh escaped her lips, packing up and turning the car toward the road before Steve could stop her again.

"I'm craving ice cream, how about you guys?"

* * *

Jemma Simmons always carried the spare key to her best friend's apartment. After receiving a distressing text from Cora, her first instinct was much like the one from post-Sokovia.

Take care of her.

After a tight hug, the biochemist ushered the agent to sit on the couch and turned the TV on for her. Introducing herself to the twins, she grabbed their bags of ice cream and placed them on the kitchen island.

Wanda followed her, offering to help with the ice cream.

"Mind telling me what happened? How was she on the drive here?" Jemma asked quietly, watching her Cora subtly while filling bowls with the cold dessert.

Cora looked out of it, flipping through the channels aimlessly. Jemma knew her too well. Cora would claim she was a soulless, no-good being, but she knew better. Emotions always got the best of her.

When she cared, she went all in.

"Silent," Wanda replied, telling her what happened in the Barton ranch. Jemma listened intently, topping off Cora's ice cream with an obscene amount of whipped cream and bananas. Never cherries, since the other was allergic to them.

Carrying the bowl of calories towards the living room, Wanda next to her, Jem wasn't surprised Cora had found her way to the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The biochemist detested that show. How could some be housewives without being married?

But she was surprised to see her best friend with a small, genuine smile.

Her eyebrows furrowed at the close proximity between Cora and Pietro. She was explaining the concept of the show to the obviously disinterested Sokovian.

"Why does that one waste so much wine?" He asked in his thick accent.

Jemma handed Cora the bowl, taking a seat in the armchair and looked subtly between the two. Wanda looked equally as curious, aware of her brother's palpable flirting earlier in the day.

After her mug of ice cream was emptied, Jemma glanced at Cora's bowl on the table. She had barely touched it, but the British woman took it upon herself to polish it off. She was confused, but relieved at the lack of outburst from Cora. The Latina looked way better than when she had arrived.

Two episodes later, Jemma decided it was time to go. It was close to midnight, and she had to be in the lab early in the morning to continue working with Fitz.

"You let me know if you need anything, alright?" Jemma said for the sixth time as both SHIELD members stood outside the apartment door.

"I will, but I promise I'm okay," Cora assured her with a smile, leaning back against the door.

"Even if it's four in the morning, I'll come by and we can talk," Jem worriedly repeated. "I'll even drag Fitz along and let you be mean to him."

Cora chuckled, finding the idea of Jemma willingly allowing her to be horrible at Fitz funny.

"You know me, sometimes it takes some time before I lose my shit," she murmured.

"Maybe it's time to visit your family," she suggested, knowing how close Cora was to her family. She'd met them a handful of times, but her smile dropped slightly when her best friend shrugged in silence. "Okay, well, I'll see you later."

Pushing the subject would get her nowhere.

Still, something had happening between her best friend and the former Hydra operative when she had been in the kitchen, something that had eased the weight from Cora's shoulders.

Whatever Pietro did… it worked.

* * *

A/N: Hi, I know it's super long so you can see why it took me a while to post. big thank you to those who commented/messaged me - i'm looking at you abstract0118, guest and Astral Kai! also a huge thanks to my betas, TheFlameRose and equalopportunityobsessor.

~ vaindaisy


	7. the moon and the star

the Moon and the Star

* * *

youth - breakage remix by foxes

* * *

note: you may want to have a spanish to english dictionary in hand.

* * *

Ever since she was a child Luna hated mornings. Most days, they started by slamming the snooze button, begging for another ten minutes of sleep. But her four-year-old had other plans.

"Mommy! Mommy! Get up!" Estrella energetically jumped on the bed, shaking her mother by the shoulders.

Luna groaned, pulling the pillow over her head. She wanted _sleep_. With contempt, the nineteen year old sat up, and rubbed her eyes while attempting to tune out her daughter's loudness. It didn't work. Estrella hurled herself across the small bed, and wrapped her arms around her mom's neck with a giggle.

" _Abue_ says to wake you up for breakfast," she grinned, releasing her mother and jumping off the bed before dashing out. For a second, Luna wished she had the energy her daughter had.

She stretched herself with a loud yawn; glad she didn't have to worry about making breakfast this morning. Days like these were when she was thankful for the support her family provided.

" _Buenos días_ ," Marina smiled brightly when Luna tiredly dragged herself in, replying with a grunt.

Marina Gonzalez stood at an average height for a Mexican. The always-cheerful woman had light brown wavy hair that fell right above her shoulders, and because of poliosis, a section of her long bangs were white.

" _Cuantos tacos quieres_?" Marina asked.

"Two," Luna replied, kissing her father's baldhead and taking the seat next to him.

Hector Gonzalez was a portly man with a trimmed gray moustache, thinning dark hair with gray sideburns. He originated from Guadalajara, and like his wife, escaped the dangers of cartels and thee the corrupt government during 1983.

"Hector, put el _pinche celluar_ away!" Marina ordered, swatting her spatula near his hand. Hector shoved it back in his pocket with a grumble and took another bite from his taco. Estrella whined loudly from her chair, telling grandma she wanted to play angry birds.

"We don't use our phones at the table, Estrella," Marina kindly informed her sole granddaughter. The latter only pouted, swinging her feet.

"Where's Sol?" Luna asked, looking around for her twin sister.

"Sol left to school, _dijo que_ she was working on an important project," her father grinned, digging into his breakfast tacos.

Luna rolled her eyes.

Sol always had something to work at in school, even in the middle of summer.

Luna carried a giggling Estrella after breakfast, dressed her up in a cute pink dress with a pair of white sandals, and braided her hair. The mother opted for a modest skirt with a white blouse tucked in, and a pair of flats.

For the past few weeks, Luna had been teaching her daughter how to act around strangers. While Estrella was usually a hyperactive child with some destructive tendencies, Luna had worked hard to secure an interview to Saint Catherine's private school.

They rushed out of the home, walking down Loomis St, reaching the blue line train where they switched from the Clinton stop to the Damen station. Luna grabbed her daughter's hand tightly, not wanting to loose her in the midst of tourists.

The teenage mother took a deep breath, looking at the old building while standing in the front. Sighing, she crouched down at eye level Estrella, a tight smile on her lips, "I want you to be a good girl, okay?"

The four year old nodded, watching her mother with a curious stare. Luna fixed the stray hair in Estrella's face, and gently pulled her inside.

Knocking three times, she was greeted by a pleasantly smiling nun.

"Mrs Gonzalez?"

"Miss," Luna corrected with a smile.

"Come in dear, the Dean is waiting," the nun said. She followed diligently with Estrella in tow.

The first thing you would notice of Dean Gertrude Goldenyates is the unkind aura she possessed, and the similarities between Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. She was a sturdy woman, with a tight bun on the top of her head and wore a all gray pantsuit. Had it not been for intimidating aura, Luna could have _sworn_ the woman was only joking.

"Mrs Gonzalez," she began.

"Miss," Luna corrected again, immediately regretting it when she was given the disapproval look.

"Miss Gonzalez," Goldenyates said, the dissatisfaction outright with the word. "What is your interest in signing up your daughter up this respected institute?"

The mother balked, her memory blank as she tried to scramble for answers. But the one question that flashedin neon letters was 'Would Estrella strive for greatness with a scary lady as a dean?' Despite it, Luna knew it was between a _barrio_ education or a private school, and the dependency of her daughter's future hit her like a truck.

"I, well, I want her to do much better than what I did for myself," was her shaky response.

The love she had for her daughter was endless, and Luna did not regret the life she has led with her. But there were times where she regretted the limitations imposed on herself as a teenage mother. Why go to college if she could get a job and provide right away?

Her twin was a University of Chicago student, majoring in biochemistry, and her oldest sister worked for a congressman in Washington. Her? She worked as a secretary at a small law firm. She liked her job, and was good at it. But more often than not she felt like a disappointment to her parents, who left their country for a better life for their children. There were days Luna couldn't help but feel like a letdown.

"What career will you child strive for?" The dean seemingly sneered, looking at surprisingly calm and well behaved Estrella. The instinct to smack the older woman across the face was Luna's immediate reaction, but she held it back and digressed and bit her tongue. This was her daughter's future.

She took a few seconds to mull it over her answer, but the only answer she could come up was greatness. Luna lied, and said doctor. If Estrella decided to be a sculpture artist that emphasized working with cat feces, then Luna would work double shifts in order to support her daughter.

"Is the father out of the picture?" the vile woman then asked, arched eyebrow with a stare down. Luna shifted in her seat, straightened her shoulders while glancing momentarily at her daughter, who was interested in her hands. Luna returned her gaze back to the dean, and nodded.

The rest of the interview was unpleasant. The woman could not suppress her aversion towards single mothers, asking questions that would allude to Estrella's father. Luna concluded her daughter would not be accepted, and breathed deeply once they were out in the streets.

It had been the same type of snobbery she encountered when she attempted to alleviate her parents from babysitting, and enroll Estrella into daycare. But every place she thought redeemable had the tendency to look down their noses, and decline the applications.

"Mommy, don't be sad," Estrella tugged on mother's arm, a soft smile on her lips.

"I'm not sad sweetheart," Luna lied, picking her up and carrying her on her hip.

"But you're crying mommy."

"It's just sweat Estrella," She laughed through her lie. "Come on, let's go meet grandma so she can take you home."

* * *

Luna was proud of her work ethic, and it helped that she actually enjoyed her job.

But she was a _puta_ , eye-candy, and nothing more.

That's what the other women at the law firm described her as behind her back. Okay so they didn't use the word _puta_ , but that was her translation. She was the secretary for Santiago Manuel Fernandez, a partner in the firm, and he was young.

" _Qué pasó_ Luna?" He asked in his flawless Spanish, making her regret neglecting her Latina roots.

He was handsome.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replied, sorting through the files.

He was caring.

"Did the Saint Catherine's meeting not go well?"

He was good lawyer.

"She looked at me like a common whore, Santiago," she huffed, slamming the papers on the desk and rubbing her temples.

And he was married.

"I'm sorry." He placed his hand on the lower back of her waist, pulling her into an embrace and planting a kiss on her lips.

* * *

Luna arrived home a little later than her usual, a smile on her lips. Despite starting the day with a negative note, she felt considerably better. Being with Santiago was wrong, and she knew that. He had an estranged wife, but he assured her they were in the middle of a custody battle to divide the assets. She'd never seen the papers before, but he claimed another lawyer was handling it.

"M _ooo_ mmy!" Estrella flung herself at her mother, wrapping her arms around the legs.

"Hi sweetie," she smiled, placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Auntie Sol is face timing with Aunt Cowa on the phone, come on, come _on_!" she said, dragging her mother to the bedroom.

Her exhausted looking twin greeted her with a nod, handing the phone over with an annoyed look.

"Corazon is being unbearable," she grunted, rolling her eyes as she walked away.

' _I heard that!'_ She heard her oldest sister yell from the phone.

"I wasn't hiding it," Sol retaliated.

Luna chuckled as she sat on the window nook, positioning the phone in front of her to face the eldest Gonzalez. Estrella sat on mother's lap as she started babbling to her aunt about her day. Luna watched in amusement as her sister gave the timely nods, 'okays' and 'that sounds fun.' She was thankful for her, even if she didn't tell her often. Instead of judging her teenage pregnancy, Corazon took time off from her job during her last trimester, and was in the delivery room when Estrella was born.

"I'm gonna go play with toys now," Estrella announced, waving goodbye to her aunt with a huge grin minutes later and ran off. Luna smiled after her, but turned her attention back to her sister.

' _What's wrong_?' Cora inquired.

"What makes you think there's something wrong?"

 _'Usually you try to kick her out of the room so we can talk_ ,' she said with a knowing smirk.

"I don't want to talk about it," Luna responded.

Cora rolled her eyes, dramatically sighing, and Luna negated her statement seconds later.

"Can you try to be impartial?"

' _Not when it comes to family, but I can give it a try._ '

"Do you think I'm a slut because I got pregnant?"

' _No, why_?' Cora's interest roused quickly.

"I'm just wondering," Luna muttered, clearing her throat.

' _That's not something you just wonder about_."

"I just, ugh, I feel like I've screwed up Estrella life so many ways _because_ I'm a single mother," Luna vented, waving her free hand aimlessly.

' _Let's get one thing straight, single mother's don't have help from anyone, and you've had help from Ama, Apa, Sol and me… even if you didn't want to tell us who the father is,'_ Corazon was quick to state.

"I mean, because I'm not married, I feel people treat me like a second class citizen," the brunette replied, annoyed and delved into the story of Goldenyates.

' _That's fucked up,_ ' Corazon responded. ' _I think I can get you a meeting at that other private school… what was it? Oh! Morgan Park Academy. I can pull some string, a couple of people owe me a favor_.'

Luna shook her head, a frown marring on her lips, "I would love that but I can't afford it."

Cora laughed.

' _Trust me, don't worry about it, I'll set it up for you_.'

Skeptical, but still trusting her sister, Luna let her do it. She doubted her sister's ability to pull strings from Washington.

Luna watched as her sister pulled on her earlobe, and arched an eyebrow in question. It was her sister's notable action when she was about to reveal something. A few months ago, Cora confessed she had sold weed from time to time.

' _I've got to tell you something but you can't tell anyone yet_ ,' she began, and once she saw Luna's nod, continued. ' _I've got a couple of roommates – not serial killers, before you start to worry! – they recently got jobs at my office, and needed a place to stay_.'

"Is it a long term thing?"

' _That's up in the air_ ,' Cora replied.

"Are they nice?" Her sister nodded. "Okay. Well, hey, when are you coming over? Mom kept blabbering on how much she misses you, so you know that means you're overdue for a visit."

' _Soon_.' Cora vaguely answered, laughing. ' _Even Jem's pushing me to go home for a while_.'

"How's she doing?"

' _She's good_ ,' she replied curtly and Luna nodded. She liked Jemma, and was really the only friend Cora ever brought around.

' _So I have to go start dinner but I'll talk to you later, okay? Give Amá and Apá a hug for me_.'

The goodbye was quick, and didn't even get to act surprised that Corazon was cooking dinner. She laughed, locking the phone and dropped it on Sol's bed before hearing her father loudly announce he was home. Luna heard her daughter scramble for the toys, and making her way to the entrance.

Her sister was right.

She wasn't a single mother.

* * *

 **A/N:** luna and estrella play such an important roll in this story, that i just had to have an entire chapter on them. it also gives me a break from the whole spy/hero thing.

sorry this took forever. one of my two betas went MIA so i was/am pretty nervous about putting this up. i am anxious to hear about the peppered spanish in the story. my og script has a lot of spanglish but i had to narrow it down to every other word because it's more believable to those who speak both languages natively. let me know what your thoughts are on it.

-Astral Kai & abstract0118: I didn't meant to take forever :(

& thanks to all my fellow lurker readers! feel free to drop me a message via my ff tumblr! vaindaisy . tumblr


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